" 


;  m 


MEMORIAL 


JAMES    ABEAM    GAEFIELD. 


MEMORIAL 


JAMES  ABRAM  GARFIELD, 


FROM      THE 


CITY    OF    BOSTON. 


'Vita  enim  mortuovum  in  memoria  vivorum  cst  posita." 


BOSTONIA 

CONT)ITA_AJ>. 

1G3O 


BOSTON : 
PRINTED    BY    ORDER    OF    THE    CITY    COUNCIL. 

MDCCCLXXXI. 


IN  BOARD  OF  ALDERMEN,  October  31,  1881. 

Ordered,  That  the  proceedings  of  the  City  Council  upon  the  death  of  JAMES 
A.  GARFIELD,  late  President  of  the  United  States,  including  the  address  of 
Nathaniel  P.  Banks  upon  his  life  and  public  services,  be  prepared  by  the  Clerk 
of  Committees,  under  the  direction  of  the  Committee  on  Printing,  and  printed  for 
the  use  of  the  City  Council,  and  that  one  thousand  copies  be  issued;  the 
expense  to  be  charged  to  the  appropriation  for  Printing. 


IN  COMMON  COUNCIL,  November  3,  1881. 
Concurred. 

[Approved  November  9,  1881.] 


R/ 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

ACTION   OF   THE    CITY   GOVERNMENT       ........     7-23 

Death  of  the  President 9 

PROCEEDINGS   OF   THE   BOARD   OF   ALDERMEN        ......         10 

Remarks   of  the   Mayor  ..........         10 

Remarks   of   Alderman   O'Brien       ........         13 

Resolutions  of   the   City   Council     ........         14 

Remarks    of   Alderman   Hersey        .         .         .          .         .         .          .          .         15 

Committee   on   Memorial    Services  ........   17-23 

Committee  to  attend  Obsequies  ........  17-23 

PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE    COMMON    COUNCIL       .......   18-23 

Remarks    of   Andrew    J.    Bailey        ........         18 

Remarks   of  Henry   Parkman  .........         19 

Remarks  of  William  H.  Whitmore  .......  21 

MEMORIAL   SERVICES        ...........  25-36 

Address   of  the   Mayor     ..........         28 

Prayer  by  Rev.  Samuel  K.  Lothrop,  D.D 30 

EULOGY   BY   NATHANIEL   P.    BANKS         ........  37-76 

FINAL   PROCEEDINGS         ...........  77-80 


601 


ACTION  OF  THE  CITY  GOVERNMENT. 


DEATH  OF  THE  PEESIDENT, 


JAMES  ABRAM  GAIJFIELD,  President  of  the  United  States, 
received  his  death-wound  from  the  bullet  of  an  assassin,  on  the 
second  of  July,  1881,  while  in  the  Baltimore  &  Potomac  rail 
road  station,  Washington,  D.C.  After  eighty  days  of  suffering, 
distinguished  by  heroic  patience  and  manly  endurance,  he  died 
at  Elberon,  N.J.,  on  the  evening  of  Monday,  September  19,  at 
thirty-five  minutes  past  ten  o'clock. 

The  news  of  his  death  was  received  in  this  city  shortly  after 
eleven  o'clock,  and  the  sad  intelligence  was  communicated  to 
our  citizens  by  the  tolling  of  the  tire-alarm  bells. 

The  Mayor  immediately  issued  the  following  call :  — 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  Sept.  19,  1881. 

To  the  Honorable  the   City   Council  of  Boston:  — 

Having  been  informed  of  the  death,  which  occurred 
this  evening,  of  JAMES  A.  GAEFIELD,  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  you  are  hereby  requested  to  assemble 
in  your  respective  chambers  on  Tuesday,  Sept.  20,  at 
12  o'clock  M.,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  such  action 
touching  the  solemn  event  as  would  appropriately 
express  the  sympathy  of  our  citizens  in  this  national 
sorrow,  and  their  respect  for  the  memory  of  the 
deceased. 

FKEDEKICK  O.  PKCSTCE, 

Mayor. 


PKOCEEDINGS  OF  THE   CITY  COUNCIL, 


CITY  OF  BOSTOX,  Sept.   20,   1881. 

A  special  meeting  of  the  City  Council  of  Boston  was  held 
at  twelve  o'clock  this  day,  in  accordance  with  the  call  of  the 
Mayor,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  appropriate  action  upon  the 
death  of  the  late  President. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOAED  OF  ALDERMEN. 

The  Board  was  called  to  order  l>y  His  Honor  Mayor  PRINCE, 
who  read  the  call,  and  then  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen:  — 

It  becomes  my  painful  duty  to  give  you  official  infor 
mation  of  the  death  of  JAMES  ABKAM  GAUFIELD, 
President  of  the  United  States.  Shot  down  by  a  base 
assassin,  on  the  second  day  of  July  last,  he  lingered 
from  that  date  until  thirty-live  minutes  past  ten  o'clock 
last  evening,  when  he  died.  During  a  large  part  of 
this  time  he  suffered  great  pain,  which  he  bore  with 
manly  and  uncomplaining  fortitude. 

This  terrible  event  has  cast  a  shadow  over  the  whole 
country.  It  has  made  a  national  sorrow.  During  all 
his  long  weeks  of  suffering  the  hopes  and  sympathies 
and  prayers  of  the  whole  people  have  been  with  him, 
and  now  that  suspense  and  anxiety  are  merged  in  grief 


ACTION    OF    THE    CITY    GOVERNMENT.  11 

and  mourning  they  feel  that  the  nation  has  lost  a  Chief 
Magistrate  whose  talents,  experience,  and  patriotism 
were  assurances  that  the  great  trusts  reposed  in  him 
would  have  been  well  and  faithfully  executed. 

Recently  chosen  from  the  people,  by  the  people,  to 
administer  the  government  in  their  behalf,  all  the  citi 
zens,  regardless  of  political  differences  or  sectional 
divisions,  were  prepared  to  render  him  the  loyal  and 
generous  support  which  he  had  the  right  to  claim,  and 
which  our  countrymen  —  ever  subordinating  party  spirit 
to  patriotic  duty —  are  accustomed  to  accord. 

We  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  he  would  have 
so  administered  the  government  that  every  political  and 
social  right  secured  to  the  citizens  and  to  the  States  by 
the  Constitution  would  have  been  conserved,  and  that 
the  progress  of  the  Republic  during  his  official  term 
would  have  been  such  as  to  demonstrate  the  ability  of 
a  free  people  to  select  for  their  rulers  those  who  are 
qualified  for  the  grave  and  difficult  duties  of  government. 

They  who  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  his  intimacy 
represent  him  as  possessing,  in  an  eminent  degree,  all 
those  qualities  of  the  head  and  heart  which  beget 
affection  and  attach  men  to  each  other;  so  that  not 
only  the  nation  mourns  for  the  loss  of  a  wise,  sagacious, 
and  patriotic  magistrate,  but  the  domestic  circle  and  the 
large  circle  of  devoted  friends  grieve  for  the  loss  of  one 
whose  kindly  nature  and  great  capacity  for  affection 
enabled  him  to  discharge  well  and  fully  all  the  offices 
of  friendship  and  all  the  obligations  of  natural  relations. 

The  government  of  the  country  is  never  seriously 
disturbed  by  the  death  of  any  of  its  officials,  however 


12  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

distinguished  he  may  be  for  public  or  private  virtues, 
because  it  is  based  on  law,  supported  by  free  institu 
tions,  and  protected  by  the  loyalty  of  a  patriotic  people. 
However  much,  therefore,  we  grieve  for  the  loss  of  this 
excellent  President,  we  are  permitted  to  entertain,  in 
our  great  bereavement,  the  consoling  reflection  that  no 
apprehension  can  mingle  with  the  regrets  with  which 
we  lay  his  mortal  remains  in  their  last  resting-place, 
that  danger  will  come  to  the  Republic,  that  the  adminis 
tration  of  government  will  be  impeded,  or  that  our  free 
institutions  will  be  in  any  way  imperilled  through  the 
death  of  a  President.  The  assassin  may  murder  an 
official,  but  law  and  government  he  cannot  kill  while 
patriotism  survives,  and  the  people  recognize  the  obliga 
tions  of  moral  and  religious  duties. 

The  destiny  of  nations  and  individuals  is  in  the  hands 
of  Him  who  notes  even  the  fall  of  the  sparrow.  We 
bow  in  submission  to  that  Divine  "Will,  which  orders  all 
things  well.  We  may  not  clearly  see  how  a  great  and 
public  evil  can  work  for  the  good  of  a  community; 
but  there  are  some  lessons  which  all  may  learn  from  it. 
It  should  teach  us  humiliation,  the  purification  of  the 
heart,  the  resolve  that  in  the  future  there  shall  be  larger 
charity  in  our  intercourse  with  each  other,  a  fuller 
recognition  of  our  moral  duties,  and  a  deeper  interest 
in  the  religious  education  of  the  people.  Political  insti 
tutions  based  on  the  affections  of  the  people,  and 
representing  patriotism,  piety,  and  equal  rights,  will 
survive  rulers  and  parties,  and  can  only  perish  when 
the  public  virtues  which  called  them  into  existence  shall 
decline  and  pass  away. 


ACTION    OF    THE    CITY    GOVERNMENT.  13 

The    Chair   will    receive    any   proposition    which    is 
appropriate  to  the  occasion. 

Alderman  O'BRIEN  said  :  — 

Mr.  MAYOR,  —  It  is  with  the  deepest  sorrow  and  regret 
that  I  rise  to  offer  resolutions  in  honor  of  the  memory  of 
the  late  President  of  the  United  States.  A  few  weeks 
ago  we  all  rejoiced,  because  it  appeared  to  us  at  that  time 
that  the  hand  of  the  assassin  had  failed  to  accomplish  its 
purpose;  that  our  President  would  live  to  serve  his  coun 
try  with  that  distinguished  ability  and  patriotism  that  had 
marked  his  course  since  his  entrance  on  public  life.  An 
all-wise  Providence  has  willed  it  otherwise.  Elected  but 
a  few  months  ago  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation,  he 
had  but  just  entered  upon  a  career  of  usefulness  to  his 
country,  when  he  was  stricken  down  for  no  cause  what 
ever. 

Fifty  millions  of  people  now  mourn  their  great  loss. 
Fifty  millions  of  people  are  shocked  that  a  man  could 
exist  among  them,  could  grow  up  among  them,  who 
would  be  guilty  of  so  great  a  crime.  Words  almost  fail 
to  express  our  detestation  of  the  act  by  which  so  distin 
guished  a  citizen  has  lost  his  life,  and  the  country  a 
Chief  Magistrate  who  was  honored  and  respected 
throughout  the  land.  In.  common  with  our  fellow- 
citizens  in  all  sections  of  the  country,  we  mourn  our 
great  loss,  and  honor  his  memory.  With  these  brief 
remarks  I  now  submit  the  resolutions  of  the  City 
Council. 


MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 


RESOLUTIONS    OF   THE    CITY    COUNCIL. 

Resolved,  That  the  City  Council  of  Boston,  in  com 
mon  with  other  communities  in  this  afflicted  land,  has 
learned,  with  the  profonndest  sorrow,  that  the  long 
and  painful  illness  of  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD,  President 
of  the  United  States,  who  was  shot  by  an  assassin  on 
the  second  of  July  last,  has  now  culminated  in  his  death. 

Resolved^  That,  by  the  untimely  death  of  President 
GARFIELD,  this  country  has  sustained  an  irreparable 
loss;  for  in  him  were  centred  all  those  graces  which 
the  highest  culture  could  produce,  all  that  political 
wisdom  which  a  varied  experience  in  the  council  and 
the  field  could  secure,  all  that  knowledge  of  men  and 
public  affairs  which  extensive  study  and  thought  could 
suggest,  which  united  to  make  him  in  reputation  and 
in  fact  the  most  illustrious  citizen  in  the  Union. 

Resolved^  That  President  GARFIELD  exemplified,  by 
his  varied  and  interesting  experience  from  boyhood  to 
maturity,  the  American  idea  of  a  true  and  lofty  citizen 
ship;  and  in  his  wonderful  career  he  exhibited  the 
limitless  capacity  which  waits  at  the  inception  of  life 
upon  every  citizen,  no  matter  how  humble  his  birth,  if 
he  be  only  faithful  to  his  duty  and  to  God. 

Resolved^  That,  besides  his  public  virtues,  we  recog 
nize  also  with  grateful  feeling  his  personal  qualities,  as 
exhibited  by  his  patience  in  suffering,  his  fortitude  in 
pain,  his  manly  utterances,  his  sweet  affections,  and  his 
Christian  faith,  which  have  been  so  conspicuously  dis 
played,  and  which  have  attracted  to  his  bedside  the 


ACTION    OF    THE    CITY    GOVERNMENT.  15 

attention  of  this  nation  and  the  warmest  sympathy 
and  prayers  of  all  mankind;  thus  illustrating  in  his 
death,  as  well  as  in  his  life,  the  strength  and  courage 
of  a  noble,  virtuous,  and  Christian  character. 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  City  Council, 
individually  and  collectively,  extend  to  the  afflicted 
family  of  the  late  President  their  warmest  and  most 
sincere  sympathies  in  this  sorrowful  hour;  and  they 
desire  especially  to  recognize  that  devoted  affection, 
that  saint-like  tenderness,  and  that  heroic  fortitude, 
under  circumstances  of  agonizing  suffering,  which  the 
honored  wife  of  the  late  President  has  exhibited  in  her 
unparalleled  trials. 

Ordered,  That  the  Mayor  cause  the  City  Hall  and 
Faneuil  Hall  to  be  appropriately  draped,  the  flags  to 
be  displayed  at  half-mast  upon  the  public  buildings  for 
a  period  of  six  days,  and  the  bells  of  the  city  to  be 
tolled  during  the  hour  set  apart  for  the  funeral  of  the 
late  President. 

Alderman  HERSEY  said  :  — 

Mr.  MAYOB,  —  I  hardly  know  how  to  voice  the 
feeling  of  sadness  that  pervades  every  heart  con 
sequent  upon  the  sad  intelligence  that  our  beloved 
Chief  Magistrate  has  ceased  to  live.  During  the  weary 
weeks  in  which,  without  a  murmur,  he  has  borne  the 
suffering  and  pain  of  his  protracted  struggle  for  exist 
ence  he  has  become  more  and  more  endeared  to  this 
people,  and  each  day  has  intensified  our  desire  that 
he  might  live.  Over  this  broad  land,  from  fifty  mil- 


16  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

lion  homes,  comes  the  sad  cry  of  bereavement  from  a 
heart-broken,  stricken  people.  Across  the  wide  ocean, 
wherever  a  Christian  people  dwell,  the  sad  intelligence 
has  cast  its  gloom.  Flashing  along  the  wires  that  form 
a  sympathetic  cord  uniting  the  continents  are  speeding 
the  words  of  sympathy  from  every  land,  showing  that 
our  grief  and  loss  are  shared  by  the  common  brother 
hood  of  man.  Words  can  but  feebly  express  our  sense 
of  sorrow.  That  in  time  of  peace,  with  no  exciting 
issue  to  influence  the  passions  of  men,  an  assassin's 
hand  should  deal  the  blow  of  death,  escaped  upon 
many  a  field  of  battle;  that  our  beloved  President, 
in  the  strength  of  his  manhood,  when  he  had  but 
reached  the  summit  of  human  ambition,  should  be 
stricken  down,  seems  sad  indeed. 

But  so  it  has  been  ordained,  —  the  dread  messenger 
of  Death  has  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  Nation's  Capitol, 
and  all  that  love  and  human  skill  could  do  were 
unavailing  to  stay  his  progress.  A  Christian  warrior 
has  fallen;  the  sword  that  he  drew  in  defence  of 
human  liberty  and  a  nation's  life  lies  forever  sheathed 
in  its  scabbard;  and  he  has  passed  on  to  that  realm 
w  where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling  and  the 
weary  are  at  rest,"  to  receive  the  glorious  reward  of 
those  who  fulfil  well  their  mission  here. 


The  resolves  and  orders  were  adopted  unanimously  by  a 
vote.  Sent  down  for  concurrence. 

Alderman  VILES  moved  that  the  regular  meeting  of  this 
Board,  on  Monday  next,  be  dispensed  with,  as  that  is  the  day 
set  apart  for  the  funeral  of  our  late  President,  and  that  when 


ACTION    OF    THE    CITY    GOVERNMENT.  17 

this  Board  adjourns  it  be  to  meet  on  Wednesday,  the  28th 
inst.,  and  that  all  orders  of  notice  be  made  returnable  on  that 
day. 

Adopted. 

Alderman  SLADE  offered  the  following :  — 

Ordered,  That  a  eulogy  upon  the  life  and  public  ser 
vices  of  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  be  pronounced  at  an  early 
day  before  the  City  Council  and  the  citizens  of  Boston, 
and  that  a  committee  of  three  members  of  this  Board, 
with  such  as  the  Common  Council  may  join,  be  appointed 
to  make  suitable  arrangements  therefor. 

Passed,    and   Aldermen   SLADE,    TUCKER,    and   HERSEY  were 
appointed  on  said  committee.     Sent  down. 
Alderman  CURTIS  offered  the  following :  — 

Ordered,  That  a  delegation  from  the  City  Govern 
ment,  consisting  of  His  Honor  Mayor  PRINCE,  the 
Chairman  and  one  other  member  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen,  the  President  and  two  other  members  of 
the  Common  Council,  be  appointed  to  attend  the  obse 
quies  of  the  late  President  of  the  United  States  at 
Washington. 

Passed,     and     Alderman     CURTIS     was     appointed     on     said 
committee.     Sent  down. 

Adjourned,  on  motion  of  Alderman  O'BRIEN. 


18  MEMORIAL    OF   PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  COMMON  COUNCIL. 

The  members  of  the  Common  Council  were  called  to  order 
by  their  President,  ANDREW  J.  BAILEY,  Esquire,  who  read 
the  call  for  the  meeting,  and  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

JAMES  ABRAM  GARFIELD,  the  twentieth  President 
of  the  United  States,  is  dead.  The  tired  heart  is  still, 
and  the  patient  soul  has  gone  to  its  home.  Eleven 
weeks  of  memorable  trial  have  been  added  to  our 
country's  history,  —  weeks  of  pain  and  anxiety  for 
every  patriotic  heart.  Who  of  us  will  ever  forget  the 
deep  horror  which  prevailed  on  receipt  of  the  first 
news  of  the  terrible  outrage,  felt  to  be  not  only 
against  the  man,  but  against  the  nation  itself? 

Who  will  soon  forget  the  gloomy  anniversary  of  our 
birth  as  a  nation,  or  the  hunger  for  favorable  news 
from  the  stricken  President?  Then  the  first  gleam  of 
hope,  the  alternating  hopes  and  fears  of  these  bitter 
days  of  national  anxiety,  the  shutting  out  of  all  hope, 
and  the  stern  recognition  that  death  must  come. 
Vividly  as  it  now  seems  to  us  it  will  stand  out  still 
more  vividly  in  the  future.  Two  strong  characters 
have  been  blazoned  on  our  nation's  page,  that  will 
grow  stronger  and  stronger  the  closer  they  are  studied. 

The  noble  wife,  rising  from  all  but  a  fatal  sickness, 
and,  with  heroism  and  fortitude  never  surpassed,  com 
forting,  cheering,  and  sustaining  her  stricken  husband. 
IsTever  despondent,  never  discouraged,  she  will  stand 
forever  as  the  American  idea  of  noble  wifely  devotion, 


ACTION   OF    THE    CITY    GOVERNMENT. 

and  of  heroic  and  womanly  character.  The  respectful 
homage  of  mankind  is  hers,  and  the  sympathy  of  a 
nation's  sorrowing  people  are  with  her. 

Our  second  martyr-President,  elected  to  his  high 
office  through  respect  of  his  talents  and  admiration  of 
his  noble  manhood,  the  patient  courage,  the  cheerful 
and  almost  boyish  disposition  in  the  endurance  of  long 
and  terrible  sufferings,  endeared  him  to  the  hearts  of 
the  people,  and  made  him  the  loved  President  of  the 
American  people.  Our  hearts  are  sad  to-day,  and  the 
gloom  of  this  terrible  calamity  will  not  soon  pass  from 
the  nation's  heart;  but  these  examples  of  American 
manhood  and  womanhood  will  gild  the  gloom,  and  add 
heroism  and  loveliness  to  American  character.  It  rests 
with  us,  gentlemen  of  the  Common  Council,  to  take 
such  action  as  will  testify  to  the  nation  the  apprecia 
tion  of  our  community  of  this  affliction,  and  our  sym 
pathy  with  the  mourning  family. 

The  resolutions  and  order  passed  by  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  were  presented  by  Mr.  HENRY  PARKMAN,  of  Ward 
9,  and  upon  their  being  read  by  the  President,  Mr.  PARKMAN 
said  :  — 

Mr.  PRESIDENT,  —  In  moving  the  adoption  of  these 
resolutions  I  cannot  but  attempt  to  feebly  express  the 
feelings  which  I  know  animate  the  breasts  of  not  only 
all  in  this  chamber,  but  of  every  one  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  land,  to  whom  the  news  has 
come  of  the  fatal  termination  of  the  long  and  lingering 
illness,  and  that  our  Chief  Magistrate  is  no  more.  For 


20  MEMORIAL    OF   PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

eighty  days,  hourly  we  have  examined  each  bulletin  as 
it  brought  to  us  news  of  the  condition  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  we  have  alternated  between 
hope  and  despair.  During  those  eighty  days  we  may 
say  that  we  have  been  fused  into  one  nation.  Though 
elected  to  the  position  which  he  held  by  one  of  the 
political  parties  of  this  country,  party  lines  vanished 
before  the  assassin's  blow,  and  political  differences 
were  forgotten  in  our  common  grief. 

JAMES  ABRAM  GARFIELD,  who  was  shot  on  the  second 
of  July,  at  his  post  of  duty,  exemplifies  to  us,  as  has  been 
appropriately  said  in  these  resolutions,  the  fact  that  any 
one  of  us,  by  force  of  character,  may  reach  the  highest 
post  in  the  gift  of  our  fellow-citizens.  His  career  has 
been  watched  so  long  by  his  fellow-countrymen,  and  is 
so  well  known  to  every  one  in  this  assembly,  that  I 
will  not  repeat  it.  We  all  feel  that  the  attack  of  the 
assassin  was  upon  each  one  of  us;  but  at  the  same 
time  we  must  remember  what  Mr.  GARFIELD  himself 
so  eloquently  expressed  upon  the  death  of  our  first 
martyr-President,  that,  though  our  chief  has  been 
stricken  down,  "  God  reigns,  and  the  government  at 
"Washington  still  lives."  Though  we  may  mourn  for 
him  as  one  of  the  best  and  noblest  types  of  American 
manhood,  yet  we  must  endeavor  to  show  respect  for  his 
memory  by  attempting  to  carry  out  what  we  think  he 
would  have  desired.  And,  Mr.  President,  as  you  your 
self  have  so  well  said,  with  regard  to  Mrs.  GARFIELD, 
while  undoubtedly  there  are  many  women  in  this  broad 
land  who,  under  the  same  circumstances,  would  have 
shown  the  same  fortitude  and  spirit  in  their  troubles,  yet 


ACTION    OF    THE    CITY    GOVERNMENT.  21 

it  has  been  given  to  this  woman  to  show  what  our  high 
est  type  of  American  womanhood  is.  She  has  stood  the 
ordeal  nobly,  and  we  extend  to  her  our  most  sincere 
sympathies.  Mr.  President,  I  move  the  adoption  of  these 
resolutions  by  a  rising  vote. 

Mr.  WILLIAM  H.  WIIITMORE,  of  Ward  12,  said:  — 

Mr.  PRESIDENT,  —  I  rise  to  second  the  motion,  in  the 
name  of  those  of  us  who  did  not  aid  in  the  election  of 
President  GAKFIELD.  And  with  that  preface  the  mem 
ory  of  that  opposition  forever  ceases.  As  President,  he 
was  our  President ;  the  chosen  head  of  the  whole  people ; 
the  visible  sign  of  a  nation's  sovereignty;  the  object  of 
the  love  and  loyalty  of  every  citizen.  He  has  fallen  a 
victim  to  the  dangers  of  his  post,  —  a  martyr  to  his 
country,  as  truly  as  any  of  his  associates  who  fell  on  the 
field  of  battle.  Most  fortunately  not  a  suspicion  can 
exist  that  the  cowardly  assassin  has  a  confederate  or  a 
sympathizer.  The  political  framework  of  our  government 
stands  to-day  intact  and  admirable;  our  sympathy  can 
be  freely  and  justly  bestowed  upon  GAKFIELD  as  a  man 
grievously  afflicted,  but  for  that  very  cause  nearer  and 
dearer  to  us  now  and  always. 

This  community,  proud  of  its  loyalty,  is  a  unit  also  in 
its  affection  for  the  fallen  chieftain.  From  the  moment 
of  the  first  announcement  of  the  dastardly  act  until  the 
stroke  of  the  midnight  bell  proclaimed  the  mournful  end, 
a  shadow  has  rested  on  every  household.  The  spectre  of 
Death  has  been  with  us,  day  and  night,  as  though  the 
first-born  lay  stricken  in  every  home.  Day  by  day  we 


22  MEMORIAL    OF   PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

have  watched  the  bulletins,  to  glean  a  deceptive  comfort 
from  hopeful  words,  or  to  sadly  anticipate  the  day  which 
has  now  come.  Kings  and  nobles  have  faced  the  scaffold 
with  a  firmness  which  awakened  the  pride  of  their  follow 
ers;  but  for  two  long  months  our  heroic  President  has 
faced  Death  with  a  courage  and  composure  greater  than 
theirs;  a  richer  memory  to  the  citizens  of  this  republic;  a 
higher  example  for  them  to  imitate. 

I  most  heartily  support  the  admirable  resolution  of  con 
dolence  with  his  wife  and  family.  It  will  never  be  for 
gotten  that  his  wife  was  his  truest  friend,  his  unfailing 
supporter.  The  few  respectful  glimpses  we  have  of  the 
sick-chamber  reveal  her  as  that  crowning  glory  of  a 
man,  a  true  wife.  Well  and  fully  has  she  struggled, 
only  to  remain  to  bear  a  weary  burden  for  many  years. 
Friends  may  forget,  children  may  outgrow  their  pas 
sionate  grief;  but  the  helpmeet  of  the  President's  life 
can  but  mourn  and  wait. 

In  behalf  of  every  household  in  this  community,  in 
the  name  of  every  happy  family  in  the  land,  we  tender 
her  our  sympathy,  our  prayers  for  that  consolation 
which  the  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality  can  alone  af 
ford. 

One  last  word:  the  miserable  cause  of  this  calamity 
still  lives,  to  learn,  in  due  season,  the  weight  of  a 
nation's  curse. 

It  behooves  us  all  to  see  that  he  receives  his  just 
punishment,  not  in  hasty  wrath,  but  by  the  inflexible 
force  of  a  just  vengeance.  It  has  been  said  that  "there 
is  a  divinity  that  doth  hedge  in  a  king."  Let  us 
prove  that  the  affection  of  a  mighty  nation  forever 


ACTION    OF    THE    CITY    GOVERNMENT.  23 

encompasses  its  elected  chief,  and  that  the  sword  of 
justice,  inevitable  and  relentless,  awaits  whoever  strikes 
at  the  Nation's  heart. 

The  resolves  and  order  were  read  a  second  time  and  passed, 
in  concurrence  with  the  other  branch,  by  a  unanimous  rising 
vote. 

An  order  came  down  for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
attend  the  funeral  of  the  President,  at  Washington.  Eead  twice, 
under  a  suspension  of  the  rule,  on  motion  of  Mr.  NATHAN  G. 
SMITH  of  Ward  21,  and  passed  in  concurrence.  Messrs.  HENRY 
PAUKMAN  of  Ward  9,  and  FRANCIS  W.  PRAY  of  Ward  5,  were 
appointed  on  said  committee. 

An  order  came  down  for  a  eulogy  to  be  pronounced  upon  the 
life  and  services  of  President  GARFIELD  at  an  early  day,  and 
appointing  a  committee  to  arrange  therefor.  Read  twice,  under 
a  suspension  of  the  rule,  on  motion  of  Mr.  JOHN  B.  FITZPATRICK 
of  Ward  8,  and  passed  in  concurrence.  Messrs.  CHARLES  E. 
PRATT  of  Ward  21,  WM.  H.  WHITMORE  of  Ward  12,  PRENTISS 
CUMMINGS  of  Ward  10,  WILLIAM  E.  BARTLETT  of  Ward  15,  and 
JOHN  A.  MCLAUGHLIN  of  Ward  7,  were  appointed  on  said 
committee. 

Adjourned,  on  motion  of  Mr.  ALFRED  S.  BROWN  of  Ward 
23. 


MEMORIAL    SERVICES. 


MEMOKIAL   SERVICES, 


The  Committee  of  the  City  Council  appointed  to  make  ar 
rangements  for  a  memorial  service,  in  honor  of  the  late  President, 
fixed  upon  the  20th  of  October  as  the  time  for  holding  the 
services. 

The  Honorable  NATHANIEL  P.  BANKS,  whose  intimate  acquaint 
ance  with  President  GAKFIELD  gave  him  peculiar  qualifications 
for  the  task,  was  invited  to  pronounce  a  eulogy,  and  accepted 
the  invitation. 

Tremont  Temple  was  selected  as  the  place  for  holding  the 
services,  and  the  Tremont  Temple  Corporation  tendered  the  free 
use  of  the  building  for  that  purpose. 

The  offer  of  the  Boylston  Club  to  furnish  the  musical  portion 
of  the  exercises  was  accepted. 

Among  those  to  whom  official  invitations  to  attend  the  ser 
vices  were  extended  were  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  and  the 
members  of  his  personal  staff ;  the  Executive  Council ;  Heads  of 
State  Departments  ;  United  States  officers  —  civil  and  military  — 
located  in  Boston  ;  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme,  Superior,  and 
'Municipal  Courts ;  past  Mayors  of  the  city ;  city  officers  and 
heads  of  departments. 

The  platform  was  appropriately  decorated.  A  crayon  portrait 
of  President  GARFIELD,  drawn  by  Mrs.  W.  C.  HOUSTON,  was 
placed  in  front  of  the  organ. 

The  services  opened  at  eleATen  o'clock  with  a  voluntary  upon 
the  organ,  selected  from  "Judas  Maccabneus,"  by  Mr.  GEORGE 

W.    SUMNER. 

His  Honor  Mayor  PRINCE  then  spoke  as  follows :  — 


MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 


ADDRESS   OF  HIS   HONOR  THE   MAYOR. 

Fellow-  Citizens :  —  The  vicissitudes  of  human  life  and 
the  mutability  of  human  affairs  are  forcibly  impressed 
upon  us  by  the  sad  fate  of  our  murdered  President. 
A  short  time  ago  we  saw  him  in  all  the  pride  of  his  vig 
orous  manhood,  full  of  hope  and  health  and  strength. 
Comely  in  person  and  in  manner,  the  gaze  of  millions 
was  upon  him  as  he  stood  before  the  American  people,  a 
candidate  for  the  highest  honor  which  the  republic  can 
confer  upon  a  citizen.  Less  than  a  year  has  passed  away 
since  he  was  elected  to  the  presidency,  and  only  a  few 
months  have  gone  since,  with  the  benedictions  and  bless 
ings  of  the  whole  country,  he  was  installed  in  his  high 
office  and  began  to  administer  the  great  trusts  reposed  in 
him.  And  he  so  bore  himself  as  to  satisfy  even  his 
political  opponents  that  he  was  well  fitted  to  occupy  the 
exalted  place  to  which  he  had  been  elected.  But  while 
"  his  greatness  is  a-ripening,  with  all  his  blushing  honors 
thick  upon  him,"  the  angel  of  Death  issued  his  untimely 
summons,  and  Murder  served  the  mandate.  Yet  he 

• 

died  — 

As  sets  the  morning  star,  which  goes 
Not  down  behind  the  darkened  west,  nor  hides 
Obscured  within  the  tempests  of  the  sky, 
But  melts  away  into  the  light  of  heaven. 

The  people,  in  the  midst  of  their  exultant  hopes,  are 
suddenly  filled  with  lamentation  and  grief.  Finite  intel»- 
ligence  cannot  explain  why  this  appalling  change  was 
permitted  to  be,  for  the  assassination  was  wanton,  un- 


MEMORIAL    SERVICES.  29 

provoked,  and  without  cause.  The  mystery  must 
remain  unsolved  until  the  solemn  day  when  all  secrets 
are  revealed. 

When  we  remember,  however,  that  not  his  countrymen 
alone,  but  nearly  all  the  nations  of  the  civilized 
world,  without  regard  to  differences  of  race,  religion, 
forms  of  government,  customs  or  manners,  tenderly 
deplored  the  death  of  our  President,  and  condoled  with 
the  American  people  in  their  great  bereavement,  —  an 
event  unparalleled  in  recorded  history,  —  can  we  not  be 
permitted  to  indulge  the  belief  that  this  general  sympathy 
may  mean  that  peace  and  good-will  shall  hereafter  more 
largely  inspire  the  nations?  If  it  shall  thus  be,  then 
perhaps  the  great  sacrifice  has  not  been  wholly  made  in 
vain.  The  city  government  of  Boston,  as  one  form  of 
expressing  the  sympathy  of  the  citizens  at  this  time,  has 
directed  a  eulogy  on  the  life  and  character  of  our  mar 
tyred  President  to  be  pronounced  on  this  day.  It  will 
become  a  record,  for  the  instruction  of  the  generations 
which  are  to  succeed  us,  of  lofty  patriotism,  of  eminent 
public  service,  of  heroic  fortitude  under  the  severest  suf 
fering,  of  the  calmest  courage  in  the  face  of  death,  of 
Christian  resignation  to  the  will  of  Providence,  and  of 
unfaltering  faith  in  a  glorious  immortality.  A  distin 
guished  citizen  has  been  selected  for  the  discharge  of  this 
grateful  duty.  His  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
deceased,  his  knowledge  of  his  moral  and  intellectual 
qualities,  and  his  appreciation  of  his  patriotic  services,  will 
enable  him  to  speak  fitting  words  of  encomium.  The 
part  assigned  to  me  in  these  memorial  services  is  merely 
the  introduction  of  the  orator  to  the  audience. 


30  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

The   BOYLSTON  CLUB,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  George  L. 
Osgood,   sang   the  following  requiem   mass  by  Palestrina :  — 

Kyrie   clcison,    Christe   elcison ! 

Hostias   et  preces   tibi   Domine   laudis   offerimus, 

Tu   suscipe   pro   animabus   illis 

Quarum   hodie   nicmoriam   facimus. 

Eac   eas   Domine,    de   morte   transire   ad   vitam. 

Quam   olira   abrahaj   promisisti 

Et   semini   ejus ! 

Sanctus   Dominus   Deus    Sabbaoth ! 
Pleni   sunt   coeli  et  terra   gloria  tua. 
Hosanna  in   excelsis ! 

Benedictus   qui  venit  in   nomine   Domini. 
Hosanna  in   excelsis ! 

Agnus   Dei,    qui  tollis   peecata   mundi, 
Dona   eis   requiem   sempiternam ! 

The  MAYOR  asked  the  attention  of  the  audience  while  prayer 
was  offered  by  the  Reverend  SAMUEL  K.  LOTHROP,  D.D. 


PRAYER   BY   REV.    S.    K.    LOTHROP,    D.D. 

Almighty,  Infinite,  and  Incomprehensible  God,  we 
bow  before  Thee  as  the  Creator  and  Upholder  of  the 
universe.  Thy  power  rideth  on  the  whirlwind;  Thy 
wisdom  discernetli  the  hidden  things  of  darkness;  Thy 
goodness  ponreth  into  our  hearts  their  gladness.  To 
adore  Thee  is  our  solemn  joy;  to  trust  Thee  is  unfail 
ing  safety;  to  love  Thee  is  peace  eternal.  "Without 
Thee  we  are  and  can  do  nothing.  Dependence  upon 
Thee  is  all  our  strength.  In  the  beamings  of  Thy 


MEMORIAL    SERVICES.  31 

glory  is  all  our  light.  In  prostrating  of  our  will  to 
Thy  most  holy  will  is  our  highest  dignity  and  elevation. 

Help  us,  O  God,  to  prostrate  our  wills  before  Thy 
will.  In  this  time  of  our  national  calamity  and  sorrow, 
may  we  be  still  and  know  that  Thou  art  God;  may  we 
be  humble,  lowly,  and  penitent;  may  uo  doubt  disturb, 
may  no  murmur  escape,  may  no  fear  prevail.  Rever 
ently  and  gratefully  recalling  all  Thy  gracious  ways, 
all  Thy  merciful  deliverances  and  dealings  with  this 
nation  in  earlier  and  in  later  times,  may  we  feel  that 
our  trials  and  our  triumphs,  our  glories  and  our 
calamities,  our  days  of  grand  and  magnificent  and  our 
days  of  sad  and  solemn  commemoration,  alike  speak  to 
us  of  Thy  wisdom  and  Thy  mercy  in  the  steps  by 
which  Thou  hast  raised  us  up  and  led  us  onward  to  a 
high  place  among  the  nations.  Oh,  help  us,  therefore, 
to  mingle  gratitude  with  our  thoughts  as  we  gather 
here  this  morning  at  the  call  and  on  behalf  of  our  city  to 
commemorate  the  late  President  of  these  United  States, 
summoned  by  Thee  from  his  high  place  on  earth  to  the 
footstool  of  Thy  throne  in  Heaven;  and  while  we  listen 
to  the  words  of  wisdom  and  of  truth  which  Thy  servant 
shall  speak  to  us,  portraying  in  all  the  beauty  and 
grandeur  of  their  proportion  his  life  and  character  and 
service,  may  our  hearts  become  more  and  more  grateful 
for  that  life,  that  character,  that  noble  example,  that 
wonderful  career. 

We  thank  Thee,  O  God,  that  through  Thy  provi 
dence,  and  his  own  energy  and  noble  purpose,  the 
youth  triumphed  over  all  the  obstacles  of  a  lowly  lot 
and  pinching  poverty,  and  limited  opportunities ;  that  he 


32  MEMORIAL    OF   PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

succeeded  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and  the 
development  of  talents  and  the  formation  of  character, 
so  that  he  became  a  scholar  and  teacher,  Aviso  and 
skilful,  faithful  in  all  the  highest  objects  of  education. 
We  thank  Thee  that  when  the  exigency  of  the  country 
demanded,  the  scholar  and  teacher  passed  into  the  soldier, 
and  carried  into  the  arena  of  war,  courage,  bravery, 
skill,  a  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  a  power  of  endurance,  an 
energy  of  perseverance,  and  an  aptitude  and  sagacity 
in  military  affairs  that  showed  him  to  be  alike  competent 
to  command,  and  Avorthy  to  be  trusted  and  obeyed. 
We  thank  Thee  that  when  he  Avas  called  from  the  camp 
to  the  capitol,  from  the  military  to  the  civil  service  of 
the  country,  he  exhibited  in  the  halls  of  legislation  a 
breadth  and  wTisdom  of  statesmanship,  a  logic  and 
eloquence  of  utterance,  a  large  and  comprehensive 
policy,  that  indicated  the  force  of  his  character  and  his 
principles,  and  secured  to  him  respect,  confidence,  and 
trust.  We  thank  Thee,  O  God,  that  when  through 
these  qualities  and  Thy  providence,  and  the  wrill  of  the 
people,  he  was  called  to  the  highest  honor  the  nation 
could  confer,  and  to  the  grandest  trust  it  could  confide 
to  his  keeping,  he  Avalked  forward  to  that  position  with 
mingled  dignity,  modesty,  and  meekness,  and  that  during 
the  brief  time  he  was  permitted  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  his  office  he  did  so  with  a  broad,  comprehensive,  and 
patriotic  integrity  of  purpose.  And  aboAre  all,  O  God, 
we  thank  Thee,  that  when  suddenly  struck  doAvn  by 
the  hand  of  Avanton  folly  and  malignity,  and  left  to 
languish  week  after  Aveek  in  pain  and  suffering,  and 
alternate  hope  and  apprehension,  Avith  weeping  friends, 


MEMORIAL    SERVICES.  33 

an  anxious  nation,  and  an  admiring  world  at  his 
bedside,  during  all  this  period  no  murmur  or  complaint, 
no  bitter  thought,  no  harsh  word,  nothing  unworthy  of 
a  noble  soul,  escaped  from  his  lips,  was  written  upon 
his  countenance,  or  displayed  in  his  manner;  but  all 
\vas  calm  and  serene,  cheerfulness,  submission,  trust  in 
Thee,  the  exhibition  of  a  Christian  temper,  and  the 
mighty  power  of  a  Christian  faith. 

And  now,  O  God,  that  the  end  has  come,  amid 
scenes  and  circumstances  that  make  it  glorious  to  him, 
but  a  loss  and  unhappiness  to  ourselves,  we  pray  that 
Thou  wouldst  help  us  to  gather  up  the  lessons  of  his 
life  and  apply  them  to  our  own  characters  and  con 
sciences.  The  life  of  the  boy,  the  man,  the  scholar, 
the  teacher,  the  soldier,  the  statesman,  the  president 
and  chief  magistrate  of  a  great  nation,  and,  above  all, 
and  in  and  through  them  all,  of  a  simple,  pure, 
unaffected,  sincere,  devout  Christian. 

O  our  Father,  we  pray  that  his  name,  his  fame, 
and  his  memory,  while  they  abide  a  rich  inheritance 
and  holy  consolation  in  the  hearts  of  his  family,  —  the 
wife  and  mother  and  children,  whom  we  commend  to 
the  consolation  of  Thy  Spirit,  and  the  guardianship  of 
Thy  love,  —  we  pray  that  they  may  dwell  in  the  hearts 
of  this  people,  that  they  may  lie  close  to  the  consciences 
of  this  nation,  and  that  to  us  and  to  generations  that 
come  after  us  they  may  ever  be  a  guide  and  inspira 
tion,  an  incentive  to  love  what  is  good,  to  do  what  is 
right,  and  to  strive  for  all  things  noble  and  pure. 

O  our  Father,  sanctify  unto  this  country  this  ap 
pointment  of  Thy  Providence.  Grant  that  the  life,  the 


34:  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDEXT    GARFIELD. 

character,  the  services,  and  the  death  of  our  lamented 
President  may  exert  a  holy  influence,  and  may  serve 
to  bind  the  hearts  of  all  our  people  in  all  quarters  of 
this  great  Republic  closer  together  in  the  bonds  of 
patriotic  love  and  duty,  so  that  our  union  may  be 
cemented  in  tender  ties  and  sympathies;  so  that  the 
peace,  the  prosperity,  the  glory,  the  progress  of  this 
nation  may  endure  through  long  generations. 

Almighty  God,  we  commend  to  Thee  thy  servant, 
the  President  of  these  United  States,  in  the  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  the  high  position  to  which  he  has  been 
so  solemnly  called,  and  may  all  the  scenes  and  circum 
stances  under  which  he  is  called  to  it  speak  to  his 
heart  and  conscience,  and  make  him  wise  and  faithful. 
May  the  sympathies  and  respect  of  the  people  go  out 
to  him.  May  we  remember  all  the  difficulties  and 
perplexities  and  embarrassments  that  necessarily  sur 
round  him.  May  wre  refrain  from  harsh  and  hasty 
judgments;  may  we  wrait  and  be  patient,  and  do  Thou 
shed  down  upon  him  all  the  holy  influences,  and  endue 
him  with  the  heavenly  wisdom  that  shall  make  his 
administration  a  blessing  to  this  people,  an  honor  to 
himself,  and  a  great  good  to  the  nation. 

Bless,  O  God,  we  entreat  Thee,  this  ancient  and 
venerable  Commonwealth  in  all  its  dear  and  valuable 
interests.  Bless  this  City  of  our  Fathers.  Bless  thy 
servant,  our  Chief  Magistrate,  and  all  associated  with 
him  in  the  management  of  our  municipal  affairs,  and 
help  them  so  to  conduct  them  as  shall  promote  not 
only  our  material  prosperity,  but  our  advancement  in 
manners,  morals,  institutions,  and  character,  in  all 


MEMORIAL    SERVICES.  35 

things    that    shall    serve  to  continue  us  a  city  set  on  a 
hill. 

Bless  all  the  peoples  and  nations  of  the  world, — 
this  great  race  of  humanity  struggling  and  striving 
here  upon  earth.  Help  each  and  all  to  subdue  the 
evil  in  the  individual  heart,  that  thus  an  end  may 
come  to  injustice  and  wrong.  Teach  the  violent  in  all 
lands  and  in  all  classes  that  the  wrath  of  man  worketh 
not  the  righteousness  of  God.  O  our  Father,  bring 
all  the  customs,  habits,  institutions,  all  the  thought 
and  action  of  mankind,  into  a  closer  and  closer  har 
mony  with  the  spirit,  the  character,  the  teachings  of 
Him  who,  coming  to  bear  witness  to  Thy  truth,  and  to 
proclaim  Thy  love  unto  the  world,  bowed  His  head  in 
a  grand  self-sacrifice  on  that  cross  from  which  He  has 
shed  pardon  and  peace,  heavenly  benedictions  and 
holy  influences,  upon  the  world.  In  His  name  we  oifer 
our  prayer,  beseeching  Thee  to  forgive  our  sins  and  to 
answer  our  prayers,  and  as  His  disciples  we  ascribe 
unto  Thee  the  glory,  the  dominion,  and  the  praise 
forever.  Amen. 


The  BOYLSTOX  CLUB  then  sang  the  Choral  Hymn  "Integer 
Vitffi." 

The  MAYOR  then  introduced  the  Honorable  NATHANIEL  P. 
BANKS,  who  proceeded  to  deliver  his  address,  which  was 
listened  to  with  close  attention  and  frequently  interrupted  by 
applause. 

At  the  conclusion  the  Boylston  Club  sang  the  Choral 
Hymn  "What  God  doth  Will":  — 


36  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

Let   not   thy   life    be    spent   in   lamenting; 

Be   still,   if   God  decree; 
So    shall   it   be   my   will ; 

So   let  it  be. 

Care   not  thou  if  to-morrow   brings   sorrow ; 

Above   thee   reigns   still   the   One 
Who   all   hath   done, 

And   loves   thee. 

So   now   in   all  thy   striving,   thy  thriving, 

Stand   surely ; 
What    God    doth   will, 

That   call  thou   best. 

The    audience    was   then    dismissed   with   a    benediction    pro 
nounced   by   the   Rev.    Dr.    LOTHROP. 


THE  EULOGY,  BY  NATHANIEL  P.  BANKS. 


EULOGY 


Mr.    Mayor,     Gentlemen     of     the     City     Council,    and 
Fellow- Citizens:  — 

It  is  but  little  more  than  a  year  since  the  250th 
anniversary  of  the  Settlement  of  Boston  was  fitly 
and  grandly  commemorated.  When  compared  with 
the  lives  of  men  such  a  period  seems  long.  It  is 
but  a  span,  a  breath  in  the  life  of  nations.  Urlji 
et  Orbi  —  the  city  and  the  universe  —  was  a  pregnant 
maxim  of  the  seven-hilled  city  of  Rome.  The  three- 
hilled  city  of  Xew  England  may  lift  its  crest  with 
pride,  whenever  and  wherever  the  capitals  of  ancient 
or  modern  Europe  are  honored.  It  has  achieved  for 
the  elevation  and  liberty  of  man,  in  a  few  generations, 
with  a  few  hundred  acres  of  land,  more  than  Athens 
or  Rome,  Paris  or  London,  accomplished  in  as  many 
centuries.  What  it  has  done  by  itself  and  for  itself 
was  for  the  universal  family  of  man. 

The  sad  and  unnatural  events  that  now  bring  us 
together  recall  some  of  the  incidents  connected  with 
the  birth,  growth,  aspirations,  and  triumphs,  of  the 
metropolis  of  Massachusetts. 


The    town   of  Watertown,    where    the   American    an 
cestors   of    the    late    President    of    the    United    States 


40  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

were  cradled,  was  incorporated  at  an  even  date  with 
Boston.  It  was  its  outpost,  its  military  protector,  its 
fountain  of  supplies,  and  the  overflow  of  emigration 
from  the  restricted  jurisdiction  and  territory  of  the 
city  was  a  never-failing  source  of  population  and 
strength  for  the  adjacent  inland  settlement  —  twinned 
with  her,  both  at  a  birth  —  in  the  beautiful  valley  of 
the  River  Charles.  Salem  and  Charlestown  had  earlier 
done  as  much  for  Boston. 

Boston  was  the  metropolis  and  mart  of  the  colony, 
the  seat  of  government,  the  centre  and  focus  of 
wealth,  and  Watertown  the  earliest  and  strongest  of 
its  inland  settlements,  outranking  for  a  period  of  years 
all  others,  except  Boston,  upon  an  exact  estimate  of 
its  varied  elements  of  wealth  and  strength. 

The  history  of  the  Plymouth  settlement  of  1620, 
which  preceded  the  embarkation  of  the  Massachusetts 
colony,  was  blistered  with  the  results  of  a  bitter  and 
apparently  relentless  destiny,  against  which  it  would 
have  been  scarcely  possible  for  any  people  but  the 
Massachusetts  Pilgrims  and  Puritans,  strengthened  by 
the  later  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  to  have 
secured  a  triumph  like  that  which  the  Deity  they 
worshipped  vouchsafed  to  them. 

Its  founders  were  refugees  from  England,  exiles  in 
Holland,  and  gladly  braved  suffering  and  death  in  the 
2sTew  World,  for  liberty  of  conscience  and  freedom  to 
worship  God.  For  the  first  ten  years  of  its  existence 
its  growth  was  painful  and  slow,  numbering  but 
three  hundred  souls  in  1630. 

The     colony     of     Massachusetts     Bay,     with     which 


EULOGY   BY   NATHANIEL    P.    BANKS.  41 

Plymouth  was  united,  left  the  Old  "World  under  hap 
pier  auspices.  It  was  freighted  with  concessions  and 
congratulations  from  the  crown.  The  best  men  in 
England  were  ambitious  to  share  its  fortunes.  "Win- 
throp,  Saltonstall,  and  Sir  Henry  Vane  -  "  the  sad 
and  starry  Vane "  -  were  among  its  leaders,  and  such 
men  as  John  Hampden,  John  Pym,  Oliver  Cromwell, 
and  many  others  of  that  heroic  type,  were  restrained 
from  emigration  at  the  moment  of  embarkation,  by  the 
order  of  the  king.  Four  thousand  families  —  twenty 
thousand  souls  -  -  people  of  culture,  capacity,  and 
character;  no  decayed  courtiers  or  adventurers,  but 
merchants,  seamen,  husbandmen,  and  others,  skilled 
in  labor  and  devoted  to  the  highest  interests  of  man, — 
had  landed  at  Boston  in  ten  years  from  the  foundation 
of  the  city. 

Among  them  came,  in  1630,  Edward  Garfield,  the 
paternal  ancestor  of  the  late  President  of  the  United 
States.  He  was  a  man  of  gentle  blood,  of  military 
instincts  and  training,  possessing  some  property,  and 
a  thoughtful  and  vigorous  habit  of  mind  and  body. 
The  earliest  record  of  his  name  in  the  annals  of  the 
colony  indicated  an  origin  from  some  one  of  the  great 
German  families  of  Europe,  and  his  alliance  by  marriage 
with  a  lady  of  that  blood  and  birth  confirmed  the 
original  impression  of  the  people  with  whom  he  iden 
tified  his  fortunes  as  to  his  nationality.  His  emigration 
suggested  a  purpose  consistent  with  his  capacity  and 
character,  in  harmony  with  the  higher  aspirations  of 
the  colony.  He  coveted  possession  of  land,  and  for  that 
reason  probably,  among  others,  settled  in  AVatertown, 


42  MEMORIAL    OF   PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

where  territory  was  abundant,  and  boundary  lines  yet 
delicate  and  dim,  especially  toward  the  west,  where  they 
were  mainly  defined  by  the  receding-  and  vanishing 
forms  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  country. 
In  the  realm  they  had  abandoned  it  was  a  maxim 
among  men,  that  home  was  where  the  heart  was.  But 
in  the  !N"ew  World  the  colonists  had  discovered  that 
both  home  and  heart  are  where  there  is  liberty  and 
land. 

He  chose  a  residence  near  Charles  .river,  a  stream 
unsurpassed  in  beauty  by  any  water  that  flows,  since 
honored  by  the  residence  and  immortalized  by  the 
verse  of  Longfellow,  and  the  original  and  marvellous 
industries  that  enrich  its  peaceful  and  prosperous 
people. 

Edward  Garfield,  the  founder  of  this  new  American 
family,  did  not  long  linger  near  the  boundaries  of 
Boston.  His  first  share  in  the  distribution  of  land  to 
the  freemen,  by  the  town,  was  a  small  lot  or  homestall 
of  six  acres  of  the  territory  afterwards  incorporated 
as  the  town  of  "Waltham.  Another  general  grant  of 
land  by  the  town,  in  1636,  "  to  the  freemen,  and  all 
the  townsmen  then  inhabiting,"  one  hundred  and 
twenty  in  number,  called  the  Great  Dividends,  gave 
to  Garfield  a  tract  of  thirty  acres,  the  whole  of  which 
was  within  the  boundaries  of  "Waltham.  In  1650  the 
land  allotted  to  Mr.  Phillips,  the  first  minister  of 
Watertown,  about  forty  acres,  in  the  same  locality, 
was  sold,  by  his  heirs,  to  Garfield  and  his  sons.  A 
portion  of  this  estate  was  afterwards  purchased  from 
the  heirs  of  Garfield  by  Governor  Gore,  who  con- 


EULOGY  BY  NATHANIEL  P.  BANKS.          43 

structed  upon  it,  from  imported  plans  and  materials,  on 
his  return  from  England,  a  country-seat,  still  admired 
as  one  of  the  most  elegant  and  stately  residences  in 
America.  The  first  distinctive  title  given  to  the 
territory  embraced  within  the  limits  of  Waltham  was 
that  of  "  The  Precinct  of  Captain  Garfield's  Company." 
Captain  Benjamin  Garfield,  whose  name  was  thus 
honorably  identified  with  that  precinct,  where  he  lived 
and  died,  was  one  of  the  distinguished  men  of  his 
time.  He  held  his  military  commission  from  the 
Governor  of  the  colony.  He  was  nine  times  Repre 
sentative  to  the  General  Court,  and  often  appointed 
Selectman  and  to  other  important  offices.  His  monu 
ment,  in  the  ancient  cemetery  of  Waltham,  still  attests 
his  high  character  and  standing  among  the  founders  of 
Massachusetts.  After  the  incorporation  of  that  town 
this  name  rarely  appears  on  the  records  of  Watertown. 
"While  citizens  of  Watertown  Garfield  and  his  descend 
ants  were  assigned  to  important  military  commands 
by  the  Governors  of  the  colony,  and  frequently  chosen 
to  responsible  town  offices.  Others  were  honored  in 
a  similar  manner  in  Watertown,  in  Waltham,  and 
wherever  they  planted  themselves.  They  did  not  hive 
in  the  settled  and  safe  centres  of  the  colony,  but  struck 
out  boldly  for  the  frontier,  where  danger  was  to 
be  encountered,  and  duty  performed.  They  adhered 
zealously  to  the  principles  of  the  colony,  and  the 
controversies  that  arose  from  considerations  of  that 
nature,  at  the  very  outset  of  its  history,  settled 
upon  an  unchangeable  basis  the  liberal  character  of 
the  government  of  Massachusetts. 


44  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

An  important  and  instructive  illustration  of  this  free 
spirit  of  the  people  occurred  in  the  second  year  of  its 
history.  Without  previous  consultation  of  the  several 
towns,  the  Governor  and  assistants  levied  upon  them, 
in  1632,  an  assessment  of  eight  pounds  sterling  for 
construction  of  military  defences  in  what  is  now 
Cambridge.  This  order  was  declared  to  be  sub 
versive  of  their  rights.  The  people  of  Watertown, 
the  most  populous  and  influential  inland  town,  met  in 
church,  with  their  pastor  and  elders,  according  to  their 
custom,  and,  after  much  debate,  deliberately  refused  to 
pay  the  money,  on  the  ground,  they  said,  "  that 
it  was  not  safe  to  pay  monies  after  that  sort,  for 
fear  of  bringing  themselves  and  their  posterity  into 
bondage." 

When  summoned  before  the  Governor  they  were 
obliged  to  retract  their  declaration  and  submit.  But 
they  set  on  foot  such  an  agitation  through  the  colony 
as  to  secure,  within  three  months  of  the  original 
debate,  an  order  for  the  appointment  of  two  persons 
from  each  town  to  advise  with  the  Governor  and 
assistants  as  to  the  best  method  of  raising  public 
moneys.  This  order  ripened,  in  1634,  into  the  creation 
of  a  representative  body  of  deputies  elected  by  the 
people,  having  full  power  to  act  for  all  freemen, 
except  in  elections.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  in  Massachusetts.  After  ten  years' 
contest  the  council  of  assistants  to  the  Governor  was 
separated  from  the  body  of  deputies,  and,  sitting  as  a 
Senate,  left  to  the  deputies  chosen  by  the  towns 
an  absolute  negative  upon  the  legislation  of  the 


EULOGY   BY   1STATHANTEL    P.    BANKS.  45 

colony.      Thus  was   established,    substantially  as  it  now 
exists,  the   Legislature   of  Massachusetts. 

As  the  people  began  to  be  represented  in  the 
government  of  the  colony,  so  the  direction  of  civil 
affairs  in  the  towns  was  intrusted  to  a  municipal 
body  of  freemen,  peculiar  to  New  England,  chosen  for 
that  purpose,  and  known  as  the  Board  of  Selectmen. 
It  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that,  during  the  violent 
contests  of  ten  years  for  this  right  of  representation  in 
State  and  local  governments,  Edward  Garfield,  the 
earliest  American  ancestor  of  the  Martyr  President 
whose  loss  we  mourn,  as  selectman  of  Watertown,  in 
the  very  crisis  of  that  contest,  did  a  freeman's  duty 
with  a  freeman's  will,  in  securing  to  the  people  of 
Massachusetts  the  rights  of  local  and  general  represen 
tation  they  now  enjoy. 

The  Massachusetts  family  of  Garfields,  in  the  male 
line,  were  churchmen,  freemen,  fighting  men,  thought 
ful  thrifty  men,  and  working  men.  They  were 
enterprising,  active,  and  brave,  fond  of  adventure, 
distinguished  for  endurance  and  strength,  athletic  feats, 
sallies  of  wit,  cheerful  dispositions,  and,  like  their 
eminent  successor  so  recently  passed  away,  noted 
always  for  manly  spirit  and  a  commanding  person  and 
presence.  It  was  a  prolific  and  long-lived  race.  Mar 
riages  were  at  a  premium,  and  families  were  large  and 
numerous.  Among  the  people  of  the  Massachusetts 
Colony  who  made  their  way  quickly  to  the  frontier 
when  new  towns  were  to  be  planted,  the  Garfields  were 
well  represented.  The  foundation  of  a  new  munici 
pality  was  then  a  solemn  affair,  usually  preceded  by 


46  MEMORIAL    OF   PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

"  a  day  of  humiliation,  and  a  sermon  by  Mr.  Cotton." 
When  the  territory  of  Massachusetts  was  overstocked 
they  passed  to  other  States  in  ~Ncw  England,  and 
ultimately  to  the  great  West.  Wherever  they  were 
they  asserted  and  defended  the  principles  they  inherited 
from  the  founders  of  Massachusetts. 

Abram  Garfield,  of  the  fifth  generation,  a  minute-man 
from  Lincoln,  engaged  in  the  combat  with  the  British 
at  Concord,  in  1775,  and  was  one  of  the  signers  of  a 
certificate,  with  some  of  the  principal  citizens  of  jthat 
town,  declaring  that  the  British  began  the  fight. 
We  should  not  feel  so  much  solicitude  about  that 
matter  now. 

Abram  Garfield,  a  nephew  of  the  soldier  at  Concord, 
whose  name  he  bore,  who  represented  the  seventh 
generation  of  the  family,  settled  later  in  Otsego  County, 
ISTew  York,  where  he  received  the  first  fruits  of  toil  as 
a  laborer  on  the  Erie  canal.  The  construction  of 
canals  by  the  government  of  Ohio  drew  him,  with 
other  relatives,  to  that  State,  where  his  previous  ex 
perience  gained  for  him  a  contract  on  the  Ohio  canal. 
The  young  men  and  women  who  left  the  earlier  settle 
ments  for  frontier  States  sometimes  consecrated  the 
friendships  of  their  youth  by  a  contract  of  marriage 
when  they  met  again  in  the  great  West.  Abram  Gar- 
field  in  this  way  met  and  married  (February  3,  1821) 
Eliza  Ballou,  a  Xew  Hampshire  maiden,  whom  he  had 
known  in  earlier  years.  It  was  a  long  wait,  and  a 
solid  union.  They  were  nearly  twenty  years  of  age 
when  married.  A  log  cabin  with  one  room  Avas  their 
home.  His  vocation  was  that  of  an  excavator  of 


EULOGY  BY  NATHANIEL  P.  BAXKS.         47 

canals  in  the  depths  of  the  primeval  forests  of  Ohio. 
There  was  not  much  of  hope  or  joy  in  the  life  before 
them  ;  but  still  it  was  all  there  was  for  them  of  hope 
or  joy.  They  could  not  expect  the  crown  of  life 
until  they  had  paid  its  forfeit.  They  adhered  to  the 
religious  customs  of  childhood.  Their  labor  pros 
pered.  Amid  their  suffering  and  toil  in  the  construc 
tion  of  the  arteries  of  civilization,  and  the  foundation 
of  states  and  empires  that  will  hereafter  rule  the 
world,  four  children  came  to  bless  them.  The  last 
was  JAMES  ABEAM  GAKFIELD  (Nov.  19,  1831), 
destined,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to  be,  and  to 
die,  President  of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States. 
"When  he  was  less  than  two  years  of  age  his  father 
died.  But  the  orphan  boy  had  no  cause  of  fear.  His 
heroic  mother  strode,  axe  in  hand,  into  the  primeval 
forest;  felled  trees,  split  rails,  set  posts,  enclosed 
grain- fields.  The  elder  children  stood  sentry  by  her 
side,  or  gave  her  their  feeble  aid.  Soon  the  youngest 
child  —  he  who  wras  to  be  President  —  engaged  in 
the  rude  employments  of  the  vicinage.  He  burned 
wood  for  ashes,  made  potash  and  pearlash;  drove 
mules  on  the  tow-path  of  the  canal,  became  deck 
hand,  and  read  in  the  stars  at  night  legends  of  the 
bright  future  before  him, —  an  innocent  and  inexpensive 
delight  that  was  never  at  any  period  of  his  life  denied 
him.  Ten  long  years  of  toil,  building  canals,  felling- 
forests,  clearing  lands,  cutting  roads,  fencing  fields, 
diplomatizing  with  Indians,  fighting  wolves  and  resist 
ing  the  avarice  and  brutality  of  civilization,  left  upon 
their  bleached  cheeks  many  traces  and  tears  of  agony. 


48  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GAKFIELD. 

Those  were  sad  words  with  which  the  Roman  poet 
described  the  origin  and  growth  of  the  Eternal  City. 
Tantce  molis  erat,  romanam  condere  gentein  !  How 
much  rough  work  it  cost  to  build  Imperial  Rome ! 
There  is  a  sigh  in  every  letter  and  anguish  in  every 
word  of  that  touching  epitome  of  the  history  of  the 
world,  and  the  widowed  mother  and  her  orphan  children 
learned  at  what  cost,  of  hearts'  blood,  states  are 
formed  and  empires  founded.  It  was  a  mother's 
heart  that  at  length  suggested  —  always  to  the  right 
child  —  a  more  thorough  instruction,  and  a  teacher's 
vocation  for  the  youngest  boy.  Nations  must  be 
enlightened,  though  their  foundations  are  cemented 
with  blood.  Some  private  instruction,  the  seminary 
at  Chester,  and  the  college  at  Hiram,  founded  by  the 
Church  of  the  Disciples,  to  which  the  mother  and 
son  adhered,  opened  a  path  to  this  higher  destiny. 
The  college  at  Bethany,  of  the  same  faith,  was 
proposed  when  earlier  courses  were  completed.  But 
the  blood  within  the  boy,  the  living  blood  of  his  ances 
tors,  turned  his  steps  to  the  universities  of  New 
Eno'land,  which  gave  him  new  elements  of  life, 

O  O  * 

enlarged  the  circles  of  enduring  friendship  essential 
to  his  success,  and  engrafted  the  refinements  of  an 
older  civilization  upon  the  vigorous  stock  and  stem 
of  the  western  world. 

And  so,  in  1856,  he  graduated  at  Williams  College 
in  Massachusetts.  Returning  to  the  West,  he  was 
again,  for  about  five  years,  Professor  and  President  at 
Hiram  College.  During  this  period,  though  not  regu 
larly  ordained,  he  officiated  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel. 


EULOGY   BY   NATHANIEL    P.    BANKS.  49 

Great  events  were  then  ripening,  and  his  active  spirit 
panted  for  a  wider  field  of  action.  The  opening  of  the 
civil  war,  in  1861,  found  him  a  senator  in  the  Legislature 
of  Ohio.  The  call  for  troops,  after  the  first  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  made  him  a  colonel  of  the  forty-second  Ohio 
"Volunteers.  The  battle  of  Prestoiiburg  gave  him  a 
brigadier-general's  commission.  Gallant  and  meritorious 
services  at  Chickamauga  brought  him  merited  promotion 
and  the  rank  of  major-general.  The  next  year  (1862) 
he  was  chosen  a  member  of  Congress,  as  successor  of 
Joshua  R.  Giddings,  of  the  "Western  Reserve,  a  daunt 
less  and  deathless  champion  of  universal  emancipation 
and  liberty,  and  he  accepted  that  seat  in  Congress,  made 
vacant  by  death,  upon  the  urgent  recommendation  of 
President  Lincoln  and  prominent  members  of  his  cabi 
net.  This  ended  his  connection  with  the  army  as  an 
officer.  He  served  as  a  member  of  the  House  for 
eight  successive  terms. 

In  January  of  last  year  (1880)  he  was  chosen  Senator 
of  the  United  States  for  Ohio,  and  in  November  of 
the  same  year  elected  by  the  voluntary  suffrages  of 
his  countrymen  President  of  the  Republic.  Such  a 
flush  and  flood  of  peaceful  triumphs  were  rarely  before 
united  in  one  man. 

He  was  inaugurated  the  4th  day  of  March,  with 
manifestations  of  satisfaction  and  harmony  never  before 
exhibited.  He  completed  the  organization  of  the  gov 
ernment  with  like  success.  On  the  morning  of  the 
2d  day  of  July,  at  the  moment  of  leaving  the  capital 
for  a  visit  to  the  homes  of  his  ancestors  in  Massa 
chusetts,  the  scenes  to  which  reference  has  been  made, 

7 


50  MEMORIAL    OF   PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

he  was  assassinated,  dying  the  19th  day  of  September, 
at  Elberon,  ~Nevr  Jersey,  whither  he  was  borne  in  the 
vain  hope  of  relief.  So  fair  and  foul  a  day  we  have 
not  seen. 

For  eighty  days  the  civilized  world  waited  with 
alternations  of  hope  and  fear  the  final  result.  ^sTever 
before,  it  may  be  said  without  exaggeration,  was  such 
sorrow  manifested,  such  tokens  of  sympathy  extended, 
such  universal  prayers  offered  by  individuals  and 
nations,  as  for  the  relief  and  recovery  of  the  suffering- 
President. 

Undoubtedly  the  open  assertion  in  some  parts  of 
the  world  of  the  right  of  assassination  as  a  method 
of  reform  in  administration  and  government,  may  have 
intensified  the  general  interest  in  this  calamitous  event. 
But  the  courage  and  composure  with  which  the  presi 
dential  martyr  bore  his  affliction  ;  the  firmness  and 
constancy  of  his  aged  mother  ;  the  serenity  and  saint 
like  resignation  of  a  heroic  wife,  administering  con 
solation  and  courage  to  husband  and  father,  with  a 
voice  sweet  as  the  zephyrs  of  the  south,  a  spirit 
gentle  as  love,  and  a  soul  dauntless  as  the  souls 
of  women  in  Israel,  —  were  not  unobserved  or 
unhonored.  It  melted  hearts  in  the  four  quarters 
of  the  globe,  and  drew  from  the  sons  of  men,  in  every 
land  and  clime,  such  attestation  and  confession  of 
the  faith  that  all  created  beings  are  children  of  one 
Father,  as  never  before  fell  from  human  lips.  We 
should  be  dead  to  sensibility  and  honor  did  we  not 
feel  such  unwonted  tests  of  the  universal  sweep  and 
scope  of  human  sympathy  vouchsafed  to  us  by  the 


EULOGY   BY   NATHANIEL    P.    BANKS.  51 

appointed  leaders  of  churches,  empires,  and  republics; 
and  by  that  august  lady,  the  Queen  of  England  and 
Empress  of  India,  that  presides  over  the  councils  of 
the  empire  whence  we  derive  our  ideas  of  Christian 
faith,  language,  liberty,  and  law,  who  gave  to  the 
afflicted  children  of  revolted  and  Republican  America 
the  emblems  of  mourning,  reserved  by  the  customs  of 
her  court  to  the  best  beloved  and  bravest  of  her 
realm,  sending,  by  her  own  hand,  to  wife,  mother, 
and  orphans,  swift  and  touching  evidence  of  the  strength 
of  her  sympathy  and  the  depths  of  her  sorrow,  —  the 
grandest  of  sovereigns  and  noblest  of  women! 


turn  from  this  record  of  active  and  honorable 
service  to  a  brief  consideration,  such  as  the  occasion 
permits,  of  the  elements  of  character  which  distin 
guished  President  Garfield.  After  all,  character  is 
the  only  enduring  form  of  wealth.  It  is  the  power 
by  which  the  world  is  ruled,  the  only  legacy  of 
true  value  that  can  be  transmitted  to  posterity. 

Let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  some  of  the  princi 
pal  events  of  the  last  fifty  years,  —  a  full  half 
century,  —  from  1831  to  1881. 

President  Garfield  was  born  in  1831.  South  Caro 
lina  had  then  announced  her  purpose  to  annul  certain 
laws  of  the  United  States  within  her  own  jurisdic 
tion:  that  is  to  say,  certain  laws  of  the  United  States 
were  to  be  regarded  in  that  State  as  of  no  validity  or 
legal  force;  and  this  by  the  act  of  the  State  alone, 
without  consultation  or  consideration  with  or  for  the 


52  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

United  States.  In  other  States  the  laws  of  the 
government  were  to  be  obeyed,  unless  one  or  all  of 
those  States,  following  the  example  of  South  Carolina, 
should  annul  them.  This  'action  contemplated  the 
overthrow  and  destruction  of  the  authority  of  the 
general  government  within  that  State ;  and  from  that 
day  to  this,  in  one  form  or  another,  the  intent  and 
purpose  of  the  milliners  of  the  South  to  cripple  or 
destroy  the  power  of  the  United  States,  so  far,  at 
least,  as  to  render  it  innocuous  and  inoffensive  to 
persons  who  did  not  like  it,  its  legislation,  or  its 
theories,  was  never  entirely  abandoned. 

The  process  of  nullification  was  directed  ostensibly 
against  the  tariff  legislation  of  that  period,  but  in 
fact,  as  afterwards  admitted,  it  was  to  protect  and 
perpetuate  slavery,  and  to  establish  a  theory  of  gov 
ernment  under  which  any  State  could  annul  laws  of 
the  United  States  on  that  subject.  This  phase  of 
the  doctrine  of  State  sovereignty  Avas  overthrown 
by  the  vigor  and  courage  of  President  Jackson.  He 
gave  vent  to  his  indignation  against  that  treasonable 
heresy,  and  let  loose  his  passions  upon  its  agents  in, 
as  he  thought,  his  native  State,  for  their  attempt  to 
overthrow  the  government  of  which  he  was  the  head. 
It  was  then  universally  believed  that  the  doctrine  of 
State  supremacy  was  dead.  But  it  does  not  so  appear 
now. 

In  1852  Mr.  Garfield  came  to  the  full  age  of 
manhood.  He  found  the  doctrine  of  State  suprem 
acy  in  apparent  discredit,  and  nullification  absolutely 
discarded.  The  object  at  that  time  was  —  assuming 


EULOGY  BY  NATHANIEL  P.  BANKS.          53 

that  the  Constitution  was  intended  to  protect  slavery, 
but  had  from  some  cause  or  other  failed  to  do  it  —  to 
induce  Congress  to  establish,  by  constitutional  compro 
mises,  doctrines  in  regard  to  slavery  which  neither 
the  Constitution,  nor  the  framers  of  the  Constitution, 
ever  entertained,  to  wit,  that  the  supremacy  of  slavery 
should  be  established  by  irrevocable  and  unchange 
able  laws,  enacted  by  Congress. 

This  would  produce,  by  affirmative  legislation  of 
Congress,  the  same  results  that  would  have  followed 
the  negative  method  of  nullification  by  States.  It 
would  have  established  the  supremacy  of  slavery  and 
the  destruction  of  the  government  as  a  national  insti 
tution.  Andrew  Jackson  did  not  then  stand  at  the 
helm.  The  compromise  was  made  a  law  in  1850,  and 
endorsed  in  the  presidential  election  of  1852. 

The  subject  of  slavery  was  forever  to  remain  un 
challenged  and  unopposed  by  the  national  government. 
Political  conventions  endorsed  it  as  a  finality  in  legis 
lation  on  that  subject.  The  Senate  Committee  of 
Territories,  with  a  majority  of  Southern  members,  de 
clared  that  to  open  the  question  of  slavery,  so 
solemnly  settled,  by  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  com 
promise,  or  otherwise,  would  deluge  the  land  in  blood. 
The  President  announced  that  any  action  of  that  char 
acter  would  meet  his  official  disapproval.  The  country 
had,  in  fact,  surrendered  to  the  demand  for  congres 
sional  recognition  of  the  supremacy  of  slavery  and  the 
slave  States  over  the  national  government!  Neverthe 
less,  the  question  was  immediately  opened  by  the  same 
power  that  had  so  recently  closed  it.  The  sacred 


54  MEMORIAL    OF   PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

compact  and  compromise  of  1850  was  broken.  The 
Missouri  Compromise  of  1820  was  repealed,  and  the 
monstrous  doctrine  proclaimed,  by  the  highest  judicial 
tribunal,  as  an  interpretation  of  existing  laws,  that 
four  million  people  of  the  United  States,  who  might 
become  twenty  millions,  "  had  no  rights  a  white  man 
was  bound  to  respect."  This  was  the  second  epoch 
in  that  important  history,  and  of  the  career  of  the  late 
President. 

In  1860  Garneld  was  a  Senator  of  the  Ohio  Legis 
lature;  in  1862  a  Major- General  of  the  army,  and  in 
1863  a  member  of  Congress.  Abraham  Lincoln  had 
been  inaugurated  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  nullifiers  threatened  secession.  Thirty  years  earlier 
they  had  attempted  the  nullification  of  certain  laws  of 
the  United  States,  within  the  States.  Xowr  they  pro 
posed  to  nullify  all  laws  and  repudiate  all  authority  of 
Congress,  within  the  States,  and  to  eject  the  general 
government  from  its  jurisdiction  and  territory.  The 
friends  of  the  government  deprecating  war,  and  fear 
ing  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  adopted,  by  immense 
majorities,  in  Congress,  an  amendment  of  the  Consti 
tution  declaring  that  no  legislation  affecting  slavery 
should  ever  be  proposed  by  the  free  States,  leaving 
that  vexed  question  entirely  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
slave-holders.  But  it  did  not  prevent  secession,  nor 
avert  war.  Most  of  the  slave  States  withdrew  from  the 
Union.  "War  was  declared.  A  fratricidal  contest  of 
four  years  ensued.  The  confederate  armies  surrendered ; 
peace  was  established;  the  States  returned  to  the 
Union,  slavery  was  abolished,  and  the  emancipated 


EULOGY  BY  NATHANIEL  P.  BAXKS.         55 

slaves  invested    with   the  right   to  vote  and  hold  office, 
—  a  third  memorable  epoch  in  this  history. 

At  the  death  of  President  Garfield,  during  the  last 
month,  the  great  political  organizations  of  the  country, 
substantially  the  same  as  before  and  since  the  war,  held 
an  exact  or  nearly  equal  balance  of  power  in  every 
political  division  of  the  government  except  the  execu 
tive  department.  The  Senate  was  exactly  balanced,  and 
without  power  to  act  on  political  questions  unless 
some  senator  abandoned  his  own  to  give  a  majority 
to  the  opposing  party.  The  House  of  Representatives 
was  in  a  similar  condition  of  incapacity  to  act,  except 
by  affiliations  and  combinations  of  opposing  factions. 
The  States  nearly  balanced  each  other,  and  the  popular 
vote,  at  the  election  of  1880,  did  not  show  a  majority 
of  more  than  three  or  five  thousand  votes  on  one  side 
or  the  other.  The  government  was  at  a  dead-lock, — 
an  embrace  of  death  if  indefinitely  continued.  And 
this  is  the  substantial  result  of  a  perpetual  conflict  of 
half  a  century  to  preserve  the  government  of  the 
Republic  ! 

It  sometimes  occurs,  at  the  close  of  great  trials,  that 
reaction  gathers  courage  and  strength,  and  progress, 
wearied  with  contest,  or  satiated  with  victory,  pants  for 
breath,  and  finds  in  rest,  spirit  and  power  for  possibly 
greater  efforts  and  grander  triumphs.  Such  is,  perhaps, 
the  secret  of  the  present  situation.  But  upon  what 
glorious  results  this  reaction  follows !  The  past  half 
century  is  the  epoch  of  emancipation.  Millions  of 
slaves  have  been  invested  with  the  prerogatives  of  liberty 
by  England,  France,  the  United  States,  and  Russia,  — 


56  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GAREIELD. 

four  of  the  great  empires  of  the  globe  branding  the 
petty  remnants  of  chattel  slavery  everywhere  with  in 
effaceable  signs  of  decay  and  death.  "With  this  great 
epoch  of  emancipation  the  late  President  rose  from 
obscurity  to  fame.  He  gave  to  its  work,  in  sunshine 
and  shadow,  his  affection  and  strength.  Upon  him,  at 
its  close,  though  not  its  first  or  greatest  leader,  rested 
its  highest  honors,  and  the  tragic  termination  of  his 
life  seals  forever  the  union  of  his  name  and  fame  with 
its  imperishable  triumphs. 

We  know  how  much  the  character  of  one  age  is 
affected  by  that  which  precedes  it.  The  early 
colonial  history  of  Massachusetts  left  its  impress 
upon  his  spirit.  The  suffering  and  sorrows  of  his 
immediate  ancestors  were  not  lost  upon  him.  Like  the 
most  pleasing  of  Milton's  deities  he  had 

Much  of  his   father,  but  of  his   mother  more ; 

and  it  was  undoubtedly  upon  the  record  of  events  in 
the  last  half  century  of  our  political  history  that  he 
was  led,  from  the  opening  of  his  career,  to  devote 
himself  to  the  active  studies  and  duties  of  public  life; 
for  we  know  that,  whether  or  not  he  aspired  to  the 
high  station  he  reached,  he  was  eminently  well  pre 
pared  for  it.  The  rubric  of  events  so  briefly  sketched, 
measured  by  days  and  hours,  as  by  thought  and  deed, 
was  the  exact  term,  division,  and  limit  of  his  life.  He 
knew  and  comprehended  it.  Upon  it  his  character 
was  founded. 

He  could  not  have  failed  to  observe  that  the  pres 
ervation  of  the  Union  was  an  object  of  the  highest 


EULOGY   BY   NATHANIEL    P.    BAKKS.  57 

possible  importance,  over  and  above  all  others;  that 
every  act  of  legislation  proposed  in  the  interest  of 
slavery  imperilled  to  the  extent  of  its  success  the 
authority  and  existence  of  the  Union,  and  that  unyield 
ing  resistance  alike  to  direct  and  indirect  assaults  upon 
its  integrity  and  authority  was  the  highest  duty  of 
every  citizen.  This  was  his  platform.  To  it  he  gave 
the  best  efforts  of  his  life.  In  the  early  part  of  our 
history,  Southern  leaders  of  the  Union — Washington, 
Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe,  and  many  others  —  hoped 
and  believed  that  slavery  would  become  extinct  through 
the  influence  of  the  Constitution  and  the  force  of  natu 
ral  laws.  The  contest  made  against  the  authority  of 
the  Union  in  1832  put  an  end  to  that  expectation. 
The  Compromise  act  of  1850,  and  the  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  act  of  1854,  not  only  disposed  of  all  such 
theories,  but  established  the  supremacy  of  slavery 
over  government  and  people.  Previous  to  this  legis 
lation,  and  the  Dred  Scott  decision  of  1857,  the  insti 
tution  presented  mainly  an  abstract  question,  whether 
or  not,  on  the  whole,  slavery  was  permissible  or  excus 
able,  expedient  or  just,  which  allowed  many  conscien 
tious  and  Christian  persons  to  hesitate  in  declaring 
against  it,  and  many  more  to  avoid  opinion  or  action. 
"When  the  recognition  of  slavery  compelled  an  unre 
served  approval  of  that  compromise,  the  Fugitive  Slave 
law,  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  against 
slavery,  an  abrogation  of  the  power  of  Congress  to 
legislate  upon  that  subject,  which  it  had  exercised 
with  the  approval  and  consent  of  all  the  slave  States 
for  fifty  years,  and  an  assent  to  the  judicial  interpre- 


58  MEMORIAL    OP   PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

tation  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  by  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court  of  the  United  States,  which  declared 
that  slaves  "  had  no  rights  which  the  white  man  was 
bound  to  respect";  and  that  "negroes  might  justly  and 
lawfully  be  reduced  to  slavery  for  his  benefit";  when 
Congress  and  the  Supreme  Court  had  annulled  all 
legal  and  constitutional  power  of  the  government  and 
people,  inconsistent  with  this  white  man's  decree,  then 
slavery  was  no  longer  an  abstraction.  It  became  a 
practical  matter,  involving  the  rights  of  all  classes,  and 
the  existence  of  the  government.  While  it  was  con 
sidered  an  abstraction,  slavery  was  arrogant,  aggressive, 
triumphant.  When  freedom  became  a  practical  matter, 
involving  the  existence  of  their  government,  the  people 
assumed  the  offensive,  and  won  victories  commensurate 
with  the  dignity  and  justice  of  their  cause.  The 
momentary  triumph  of  slavery  was  its  destruction,  and 
it  must  have  been  sport  for  old  Homer's  gods,  if  any 
still  live,  to  see  these  engineers  "hoist  with  their  own 
petard." 

Garfield  came  to  the  full  age  of  manhood,  and  gave 
his  first  vote,  in  the  very  year  when  the  legislation  of 
Congress,  with  constitutional  interpretations  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  had  made  the  Constitution  a  bulwark 
of  slavery  and  the  slave  power. 

Doing  no  injustice  to  multitudes  of  intelligent  and 
patriotic  young  men  of  the  country,  and  considering 
only  the  eminence  he  had  attained  at  his  death,  we 
may  imagine  him  perhaps  to  have  been  an  unconscious 
and  unrecognized  leader  of  the  new  recruits,  in  the 
great  electoral  contests  of  1854,  1856,  and  I860,  which 


EULOGY   BY   NATHANIEL    P.    BANKS.  59 

established  the  supremacy  of  the  constitution  and 
liberty!  Garfield,  Fremont,  and  Lincoln!  AVhat  mem 
ories  surge  from  the  depths  of  the  past  at  the  men 
tion  of  their  names !  ~No  political  contests  ever  involved 
more  important  and  vital  issues,  from  the  beginning 
of  government.  ]STo  forces  were  ever  better  marshalled; 
no  victory  better  deserved;  no  triumph  more  complete! 
There  was  singular  force  and  strength  in  a  decla 
ration  made  by  the  pastor  of  the  Disciples'  Church, 
at  the  burial  service  of  President  Garfield.  The 
funeral  obsequies  were  celebrated  —  for  the  first  time 
in  the  history  of  the  Republic  —  in  the  rotunda  of  the 
capitol  at  Washington.  The  gigantic  proportions  of 
this  apartment  excite  a  profound  sensation  in  every 
visitor.  One  familiar  with  the  scene  recalls  at  his 
entrance  an  ancient  tradition,  often  repeated  before  the 
war,  that  this  majestic  central  building  of  the  capitol 
was  at  some  day  to  witness  the  coronation  of  a  king. 
Apart  from  the  unusual  solemnity  of  the  ceremonies  the 
scene  was  of  an  extraordinary  character.  The  light 
that  fell  from  the  dome  above  gave  a  solemn  aspect  to 
the  apartment.  Distinguished  personages  moved  silently 
and  slowly  to  the  positions  assigned  them.  Two  ex- 
Presidents,  immediate  predecessors  of  the  deceased,  the 
only  occupants  of  the  presidential  office  ever  pres 
ent  on  such  occasion,  sat  in  front  of  the  eastern 
entrance  of  the  rotunda.  The  Diplomatic  Corps,  in 
full  court  costume,  were  placed  in  rear  of  the  ex- 
Presidents.  Senators,  judicial  officers  in  their  robes, 
officers  of  the  army  and  navy  in  brilliant  uniforms, 
were  on  the  right.  Members  and  ex-members  of  the 


60  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

House,  in  large  numbers,  attended  by  the  Speaker, 
were  massed  upon  the  left,  and  the  space  around  them 
was  crowded  by  distinguished  citizens  from  every  part 
of  the  country.  The  august  assembly  rose  as  the 
President,  with  cabinet  officers  and  the  stricken  family 
of  mourners,  passed  to  their  seats  near  the  casket  of 
the  deceased  Chief  Magistrate,  —  resting  upon  the  same 
bier  that  bore  the  body  of  President  Lincoln,  just 
beneath  the  centre  of  the  canopy  that  from  the  dome 
overhangs  the  rotunda,  and  guarded  by  veterans  of 
the  army  of  the  Cumberland.  The  walls  were  hung 
with  representations  of  soul-stirring  events  in  American 
history:  the  landing  of  Columbus,  De  Soto's  discovery 
of  the  Mississippi,  the  baptism  of  Pocahontas,  the  em 
barkation  of  the  Pilgrims,  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence,  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  and 
the  resignation  of  Washington.  On  the  belt  of  the 
rotunda  above  were  seen  Cortez  entering  the  Temple 
of  the  Sun  in  Mexico,  the  battle  of  Lexington,  and 
other  studies  of  immortal  themes  in  the  history  of  the 
Republic. 

Simple,  brief,  and  impressive  ceremonies  heightened 
the  deep  and  general  interest  of  the  occasion.  The 
funeral  discourse  was  of  a  purely  religious  character, 
with  scarcely  more  than  a  brief  allusion  to  the  career 
of  the  deceased  President,  and  no  mention,  I  think,  of 
his  title  or  his  name.  But  these  omissions  intensified 
the  general  interest  in  the  brief  personal  allusions.  "  I 
do  believe,"  the  preacher  said,  "  that  the  true  strength 
and  beauty  of  this  man's  character  will  be  found  in  his 
discipleship  of  Christ ! " 


EULOGY   BY   NATHANIEL    P.    BANKS.  61 

It  is  not  my  province  to  speak  of  the  spiritual  char 
acter  of  this  connection,  bnt  in  another  relation  I 
believe  it  is  true. 

The  Church  of  the  Disciples,  to  which  he  belonged, 
is  one  of  the  most  primitive  of  Christian  communions, 
excluding  every  thought  of  distrust,  competition,  or 
advantage.  It  gave  him  a  position  and  mission  unique 
and  generic,  like  and  unlike  that  of  other  men.  While 
he  rarely  or  never  referred  to  it  himself,  and  might 
have  wished  at  times,  perhaps,  to  forget  it,  he  was 
strengthened  and  protected  by  it.  It  was  buckler  and 
spear  to  him.  It  brought  him  into  an  immediate 
communion  —  a  relation  made  sacred  by  a  common 
faith,  barren  of  engagements  and  responsibilities  —  with 
multitudes  of  other  organizations  and  congregations, 
adherents  and  opponents,  able  and  willing  to  assist  and 
strengthen  him,  present  or  absent,  at  home  or  abroad, 
who  dismissed  aspersions  upon  his  conduct  and  char 
acter  as  accusations  of  Pharisees  against  a  son  of  the 
true  faith,  and  gave  him  at  all  times  a  friendly  greeting 
and  welcome,  whenever  and  wherever  he  felt  inspired 
to  give  the  world  his  thought  and  word.  All  great 
movements  and  revolutions  of  men  and  nations  are 
born  of  this  spirit  and  power. 

In  another  direction  the  deceased  President  possessed 
extraordinary  capacities.  He  was  animated  by  an  in 
tense  and  sleepless  spirit  of  acquisition.  It  was  not, 
apparently,  a  sordid  thirst  for  wealth,  precedence,  or 
power,  which  stimulates  many  men  in  our  time.  His 
ambition  was  for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  From 
early  youth  to  the  day  of  his  last  illness  it  was  a  con- 


62  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

suming-  passion.  He  gave  to  it  days  and  nights,  the 
strength  of  youth,  the  vigor  of  middle  age.  "When  in 
the  forests  of  ]^ew  York  he  made  the  rocks  and  trees 
to  personate  the  heroes  of  his  early  reading.  Engaged 
in  the  duties  of  his  professorship  he  found  time  for 
other  studies  than  those  prescribed  by  the  faculty,  and 
for  lectures,  addresses,  and  many  other  intellectual 
pursuits.  He  studied  law  while  at  college,  without 
the  knowledge  of  his  intimate  friends,  until  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  When  in  Congress  he  would 
frequently  occupy  a  whole  night  in  .  examination  of 
questions  to  be  considered  the  next  day,  and  debate 
them  as  if  nothing  unusual  had  occurred. 

Setting  aside  all  scruples,  he  would  remain  week 
days  or  Sundays  in  the  Library  of  Congress  whenever 
public  duties  required  it.  This  capacity  for  labor  gave 
him  manifold  and  vast  advantages  over  other  men 
incapable  of  such  toil.  It  was  his  stronghold.  This 
was  perceptible  in  the  first  instance  in  his  connection 
with  the  army  during  the  civil  war. 

At  the  opening  of  that  memorable  contest  there 
were  many  men  suddenly  summoned  from  the  pur 
suits  of  civil  life,  and  unaccustomed  to  preparations  for 
war,  who  were  necessarily  incapable  of  suggesting  the 
best  methods  of  organization,  and  for  that  reason 
unable  at  once  to  enter  upon  a  career  of  positive, 
well-considered,  and  resolute  activity;  and  some,  at 
least,  of  those  who  had  been  instructed  by  the  govern 
ment  in  the  mystery  and  art  of  scientific  warfare,  after 
a  long  and  familiar  dalliance  with  "the  canker  of  a 
calm  world  and  a  long  peace,"  were  only  fired  with 


EULOGY  BY   KATHAlsriEL    P.    BAXKS.  63 

the   rash   enthusiasm  of  indolence  and  inactivity.     This 
inexperience   cost  the  government  much  precious   time, 
which,    otherwise    applied,   might   have   put   an   end   to 
the   war   before   it   was  begun.      In   great   emergencies 
there    are    always    many    useless   men    of    genius    and 
learning;    but,    in    administration     and    government    at 
least,  men  of  labor  are  scarce  and  invaluable.     Garfield 
was  one,  and  a  leader  among  them.     When  he  entered 
the    army    he    did    not   wait  for   orders,    but   began  to 
learn   first    what    was    to  be    done,  and    then    how    to 
do    it.     It  was   his  role,   the  ordinary  habit  of  his  life. 
He  had  but  just  entered  the  field  of  war  at  the  opening 
of  the  campaign  in  Kentucky,  when  necessity  compelled 
him  to  resume  his  laborious  habits   of   school    and   col 
lege.     He    set  himself    at    work   to   learn,    as    best    he 
might,  what    was    in   the  wind;    where  was  the  enemy, 
what  his  strength,  and  how  best  to  fight  or  evade  him. 
It   was    easy  for    him  to   digest   information   picked  up 
in    many   weeks'  inquiry,    and    mass   its    details    under 
appropriate   heads,  which,  when  applied   to   the    objects 
immediately   in   view,   presented,    in   itself,    an    effective 
and    complete    plan    of    operations    without     study    or 
trouble.     This   was    less    the   result  of   special   capacity 
than   of   general    habits    of    industry,    a   love  of    labor, 
and    a   burning    thirst   for   acquisition    and   information. 
And  so,  later  in  the  war,  when   he  became   Chief-of- 
Staff  of  the   Army  of  the    Cumberland,  under  General 
Rosecrans,  —  which   was    the    post   he  chose,    and    then 
undoubtedly  the    appropriate   field   for   him,  —  we  learn, 
upon    good     authority,    that     his     bureau     of    military 
information  was  the  most  perfect   machine  of  the  kind 


64  MEMORIAL    OF   PKESIDEXT    GAKFIELD. 

organized  in  the  field  during  the  war.  And  when, 
at  last,  an  advance  upon  the  enemy  became  neces 
sary  to  satisfy  an  impatient  government  and  people, 
and  seventeen  generals,  whose  opinions  were  asked  by 
Rosecrans,  advised  against  the  movement,  their  reports 
were  submitted  to  Garfield  for  examination.  He  ana 
lyzed  them,  contrasted  the  views  of  one  with  those  of 
another,  compared  their  results  with  complete  reliable  and 
varied  intelligence  acquired  from  his  officers,  scouts, 
spies,  the  southern  people,  fugitives,  contrabands,  and 
the  movements  of  the  enemy,  and,  in  a  complete  analysis 
and  study  of  the  situation,  upon  information  which  he 
alone  presented,  and  against  the  opinion  of  nearly  all 
subordinate  generals,  reduced  to  demonstration  the 
truth  of  his  premises  and  conclusions,  and  led  the  way 
to  the  Tullahoma  campaign,  which  is  said  to  have  been 
as  perfect  in  plan  and  as  ably  executed  as  any  campaign 
of  the  war.  In  speaking  of  the  report,  "Whitelaw  Reid, 
in  his  history,  "  Ohio  in  the  War,"  says :  "  This  report 
we  venture  to  pronounce  the  ablest  military  document 
known  to  have  been  submitted  by  a  chief-of-staff  to  his 
superior  officer  during  the  war." 

Garfield  had,  also,  preeminent  skill  in  directing  and 
applying  the  labor  and  attainments  of  others  to  the 
success  of  his  own  work.  This  is  a  somewhat  rare, 
but  an  invaluable  capacity.  ISTo  one  man  can  do 
everything.  In  labor,  as  in  war,  to  divide  is  to  conquer. 
There  have  been  men  who  knew  everything  and  could 
do  everything,  —  whose  incomparable  capacities  would 
have  been  sufficient,  under  wise  direction,  to  have  given 
the  highest  rank  among  the  few  men  that  have  changed 


EULOGY    BY   NATHANIEL    P.    BANKS.  65 

the  destiny  of  the  world;  but  who  could  not  succeed  in 
government,  because  they  never  saw  men  until  they  run 
against  them. 

Such  admirable  qualities,  united  to  such  strength  and 
love  for  active  service,  gave  him  reputation  and  rank, 
and  opened  the  way  to  brilliant  campaigns  in  Kentucky 
against  Marshall  at  Prestonburg  and  at  Middle  Creek, 
—  the  last  a  cause  of  other  victories  elsewhere,  —  and 
at  Tullahoma  and  Chickamauga. 

His  knowledge  of  law,  privately  acquired,  opened  a 
new  field  of  activity  and  service,  of  great  benefit  to 
him  and  the  government.  But  little  attention  had  been 
given  by  professors  of  legal  science,  at  the  opening 
of  the  war,  to  the  study  of  military  law.  In  the  field 
where  it  was  to  be  administered,  great  difficulties  were 
encountered  in  determining  what  the  law  was,  and  who 
was  to  execute  it.  A  distinguished  jurist,  Dr.  Francis 
Lieber,  was  appointed  by  the  government  to  codify 
and  digest  the  principles  and  precedents  of  this  abstruse 
department  of  juridical  science.  But  it  opened  to 
Garfield,  long  before  the  digest  was  completed,  a 
peculiar  field  for  tireless  research  and  labor  in  new 
fields  of  inquiry.  Once  installed  as  an  officer  of 
courts-martial  his  services  were  found  to  be  indispen 
sable.  From  the  West  he  was  called  to  Washington, 
entered  immediately  into  confidential  communication 
with  President  Lincoln  in  regard  to  the  military  situa 
tion  in  Kentucky,  was  a  member  of  the  most  important 
military  tribunals,  became  a  favorite  and  protege  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  and,  by  express  wish  of  the  Presi 
dent  and  Secretary,  accepted  a  seat  in  the  House  of 


66  MEMORIAL    OP   PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

Representatives,    to    which     he     had    been    chosen     in 
1862. 

His  career  in  Congress  is  the  important  record  of 
his  life.  For  that  he  was  best  fitted;  with  it  he  was 
best  satisfied;  in  it  he  continued  longest,  and  from  it 
rose  to  the  great  destiny  which  has  given  him  a 
deathless  name  and  page  in  the  annals  of  the  world. 

The  House  of  Representatives,  in  the  age  of  Clay, 
Calhoun,  and  Webster,  was  an  institution  quite  unlike 
that  of  our  own  time.  Its  numbers  then  were  small, 
its  leading  men  comparatively  rare;  but  few  subjects 
were  debated,  and  members  of  the  House  seldom  or 
never  introduced  bills  for  legislative  action.  Its  work 
was  prepared  by  committees,  upon  official  information, 
and  gentlemen  washing  to  speak  upon  its  business 
could  always  find  an  opportunity.  ]STow  its  numbers 
have  been  doubled.  More  than  ten  thousand  bills  for 
legislative  consideration  are  introduced  in  every  Con 
gress.  The  increase  of  appropriations,  patronage,  and 
legislation  is  enormous,  and  the  pressure  for  action 
often  disorderly  and  violent.  Little  courtesy  is  wasted 
on  such  occasions,  where  one  or  two  hundred  members 
are  shouting  for  the  floor;  and  when  one  is  named 
by  the  Speaker  it  must  be  a  strong  man,  ready,  able, 
eloquent,  to  gain  or  hold  the  ear  of  the  House. 
Garfield  never  failed  in  this.  His  look  drew  audience 
and  attention.  He  was  never  unprepared,  never  tedious, 
always  began  with  his  subject,  and  took  his  seat  when 
he  had  finished.  He  had  few  controversies,  and  was 
never  called  to  order  for  any  cause.  He  was  a  debater 
rather  than  an  orator;  always  courteous,  intelligent, 


EULOGY   BY   NATHANIEL    P.    BANKS.  67 

intelligible,  and  honorable.  The  House  listened  to  him 
with  rapt  attention,  and  he  spoke  with  decisive  effect 
upon  its  judgment.  He  liked  it  to  be  understood  that 
he  was  abreast  of  the  best  thought  of  the  time;  he  had 
a  high  regard  for  the  authority  of  scientific  leaders, 
and  walked  with  reverential  respect  in  the  tracks  of 
the  best  thinkers  of  the  age.  It  is  a  pleasant  thing, 
this  method  of  settling  all  problems  by  demonstration 
of  exact  science.  Hudibras  must  have  been  in  error 
when  he  spoke  so  lightly  of  these  scholastic  methods, 
saying,  or  rather  singing :  — 

That   all    a   rhetorician's  rules 
Teach   him   but   to   name   his   tools. 

But  there  are  moments  when  abstruse,  scientific  terms 
leave  an  insatiate  and  aching  void  in  the  human  heart. 
Multitudes  felt  the  sting  of  such  a  sorrow  as  they 
watched,  with  agonizing  interest,  toward  the  close  of 
the  President's  suffering,  his  terrible  struggle  for  life, 
and  trembled,  with  alternations  of  hope  and  fear,  as 
they  studied  the  morning  and  evening  bulletins  that 
described  the  incidents  of  night  and  day  with  the 
precision  of  exact  science  in  language  freshly  bor 
rowed  from  the  medical  terminology  of  ancient  Greeks 
and  Egyptians,  that  seemed  to  impart  new  terrors  to 
disease  and  death.  And  they  turned  with  infinite  relief, 
though  not  always  with  strengthened  hopes,  to  the 
telegrams  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  announcing  to  the 
world,  in  the  language  of  common  life,  the  changes 
that  had  occurred  in  the  ebb  and  flow  of  life's  dark 
tide. 


68  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

As  chairman  or  a  prominent  member  of  the  prin 
cipal  business  committees  of  the  House,  Garfield 
had  an  easy  access  to  the  floor,  and  an  eager  assembly 
as  his  audience.  His  topics  were  generally  of  a 
national  character,  connected  with  the  organization  and 
maintenance  of  various  departments  of  the  govern 
ment;  but  there  was  scarcely  any  subject  brought 
before  Congress  to  which  he  had  not  at  some  time 
given  a  thorough  and  able  exposition  of  his  views. 
The  best  known  and  most  influential  of  his  speeches 
were  in  relation  to  the  war,  financial  affairs,  the 
currency,  and  the  tariff.  These  all  involved  national 
interests,  and  exhibit  on  his  part  a  profound  study 
of  every  subject  necessary  to  their  support.  He  was 
from  the  first,  and  constantly,  a  hard-money  man, 
a  leader  in  discussion,  and  a  supporter  by  his  votes  of 
every  proposition  necessary  to  maintain  a  sound  cur 
rency.  On  the  subject  of  the  tariff,  while  lie  did 
not  deny  that,  as  an  abstract  question,  the  doctrine  of 
free  trade  presented  an  aspect  of  truth,  he  always  de 
clared  that  under  a  government  like  ours  protection 
of  national  industries  was  indispensable.  He  advo 
cated  duties  high  enough  to  enable  the  home  manu 
facturer  to  make  wholesome  competition  with  foreigners, 
but  not  so  high  as  to  subject  consumers  to  a  home 
monopoly  of  product  or  supply.  A  moderate  and 
permanent  protection  was  the  doctrine  he  always 
ably  sustained.  It  would  be  instructive  to  recall 
the  expression  of  his  views  embodied  in  his  speeches 
upon  these  subjects,  which  he  photographed  upon 
the  minds  of  those  to  whom  they  were  addressed, 


EULOGY   BY   NATHANIEL    P.    BANKS.  69 

but  inappropriate  at  the  present  moment.  His  speeches 
on  occasions  of  ceremony  —  to  most  persons  difficult 
and  embarrassing1  because  of  their  departure  from 
the  usually  impetuous  and  often  stormy  courses  of 
debate  —  were  numerous,  and  always  classed  with  the 
best  records  of  commemorative  and  aesthetic  oratory. 
Few  men  in  the  history  of  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  have  acquired  a  higher  reputation,  and 
none  will  be  more  kindly  and  permanently  remembered. 


It  was  said  by  one  of  the  wisest  of  the  ancient 
Greeks  that  it  is  "  impossible  to  penetrate  the  secret 
thoughts,  quality,  and  judgment  of  man  till  he  is 
put  to  proof  by  high  office  and  administration  of  laws." 
Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  splendid  record  of  the 
late  President  in  every  walk  of  life  he  followed,  it 
does  not  enable  us  to  anticipate  the  character  and 
ultimate  success  of  the  administration  upon  which 
he  so  happily  entered.  In  other  positions  of  public 
life  the  concurrence  of  so  many  different  influences 
is  required  to  accomplish  even  slight  results,  that 
individual  credit  or  responsibility  therefor  is  often 
slight  and  intangible.  In  the  administration  of  govern 
ment,  the  highest  secular  duty  to  which  men  are  ever 
called,  responsibility  is  indivisible  and  unchangeable  5 
and  the  final  results,  whether  for  good  or  evil,  are 
indelibly  stamped  on  the  woof  and  warp  of  the  web  of 
time,  and  will  so  remain  forever.  Good  intentions  are 
of  no  account,  and  a  plea  of  confession  and  avoid 
ance,  —  admitting  failure  but  disclaiming  error,  —  so 


70  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

advantageous  in  other  cases,  never  influences  the 
world  in  judging  men  who  fail  rightly  and  success 
fully  to  administer  government.  We  are  happy  in 
being  absolved  from  the  responsibility  of  such  judg 
ment  where  authoritative  decision  is  impossible. 

Of  his  ideas  of  administration  and  government,  their 
object,  method,  scope,  and  power,  he  has  left  a  record 
which  will  forever  stand  a  monument  of  his  capacity 
and  genius  for  investigation,  discrimination,  learning, 
a  just  comprehension  of  what  should  be  required,  and 
the  best  method  of  achieving  desired  results.  His 
inaugural  address  is  a  masterly  exemplification  and 
vindication  of  his  views,  and  the  satisfaction  with 
which  it  was  received,  an  indication  of  the  confidence 
of  the  country  in  his  ability  to  execute  purposes  so 
wisely  and  well  stated.  But  the  vigor  of  war  is  not 
always  equal  to  its  sounding  protocols. 

A  comparison  of  what  he  had  done,  with  what  he 
might  do,  would  give  assurance  of  splendid  success. 
It  was  on  that  principle  that  the  late  presidential  can 
vass  terminated  in  his  elevation  and  honor.  He  had 
been  faithful  in  a  few  things ;  he  was  made  ruler 
over  many.  But,  beyond  that,  no  tribunal  is  com 
petent  for  a  final  decision,  and  judgment  must  be  sus 
pended.  We  have  other  duties  more  closely  identified 
with  his  fame,  and  our  success  and  happiness,  that 
claim  our  attention. 


What    influences    and   what   measures  may  be   relied 
upon    to    avert    the    repetition    and    extension    of   this 


EULOGY   BY   NATHANIEL    P.    BANKS.  71 

terrible  calamity  which  has  again  fallen  upon  the 
Republic  and  its  people  -  -  inexplicable,  immeasurable, 
and  unnatural  —  is  a  subject  of  supreme  importance, 
possibly,  of  unconquerable  difficulty. 

To  shield  crime  by  false  accusations  of  innocence  will 
not  accomplish  it.  To  attribute  this  calamity  to  causes 
which  are  inseparable  from  liberty,  which  are  inherent 
in  every  free  government,  and  from  which  this  country 
has  never  been  and  can  never  be  free  BO  long  as  liberty 
exists,  will  neither  protect  us  from  further  peril  nor 
absolve  us  from  weighty  and  crushing  responsibilities 
now  and  hereafter. 

The  political  complications  and  convulsions  of  the 
present  year  are  slight  in  comparison  with  those  of 
other  periods  of  our  political  history,  not  in  one  city 
or  state,  but  in  every  city  and  state  throughout  the 
country. 

The  city  of  Boston  cannot  have  forgotten  the  riots 
incited  in  her  streets  against  Washington  and  the 
measures  of  his  administration.  The  men  of  this 
generation  have  never  known  nor  heard  of  such  political 
violence  as  that  directed  against  Jefferson  and  the 
measures  of  his  administration.  We  ought  not  to 
forget,  even  here,  that  against  the  administration  of 
Madison,  the  father  of  the  Constitution,  —  a  modest, 
peaceful,  timid,  irresolute  man, — we  ourselves  organized, 
justified,  and  defended,  a  political  convention  in  a 
neighboring  city,  which  was  supposed  to  have  contem 
plated  resistance  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States.  I  am  myself  old  enough  to  have  heard,  in  a 
neighboring  State,  on  a  calm  and  beautiful  Sunday 


72  MEMORIAL    OF   PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

morning,  influential  and  respectable  citizens  and  church- 
members  say  openly  and  seriously,  in  the  presence  of 
many  persons,  of  whom  I  was  one,  that  they  would 
assist  in  the  assassination  of  Andrew  Jackson.  And 
this  on  account  of  his  measures  against  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States.  If  honorable  and  educated 
Christian  men  of  oSTew  England  entertained  such  ideas 
of  Jackson,  who  had  just  then  saved  the  government 
from  destruction  by  nullification,  what  must  have  been 
said  of  him  by  the  nullifiers  themselves,  in  South 
Carolina,  where  nearly  every  man  was  a  nullifier,  and 
where,  as  was  said  of  O'Connell  — 

A  nation  was  in  a  man  comprised  ? 

We  cannot  forget  what  occurred  during  the  ad 
ministration  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  or  of  his  successor,  Mr. 
Johnson.  We  have  witnessed  no  such  political  con 
vulsions  in  our  day.  ^o  one  ever  excused  the 
assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  such  grounds,  or 
could  have  counselled  such  violence  against  the  chiefs 
of  earlier  administrations.  Neither  can  it  now  be 
done,  with  truth  or  justice.  Those  who  enlisted  in 
the  opposition  to  past  administrations  were  men  whose 
intellectual  and  moral  natures  restrained  them  from 
the  execution  of  purposes  dictated  by  passion.  Those 
whose  feeble  intellects  limit  their  moral  responsibility 
we  must  restrain  or  protect,  and  never  palliate,  by 
thought  or  act,  offences  that,  under  other  circumstan 
ces,  might  have  endangered  the  life  of  any  President 
of  the  Republic!  .  There  is  no  cause  or  incitement 
to  crime  in  the  political  controversies  of  this  year 


EULOGY  BY  NATHANIEL  P.  BANKS.         73 

that  might  not  have  occurred  under  any  previous 
administration;  and  neither  motive  nor  temptation,  of 
any  kind  whatever,  for  such  an  ineffable  and  inexpi 
able  crime  as  the  murder  of  the  mild,  generous, 
warm-hearted,  forgiving,  and  Christian  Chief  Magis 
trate,  whose  loss  we  mourn. 

It  is  unwise  and  unjust  that  individual  idiosyncra 
sies  or  conduct  should  be  charged  to  political  parties 
or  people,  or  that  the  institutions  and  government  of 
the  country  should  be  considered  as  inevitable,  natural, 
proximate,  or  even  incidental  causes  of  such  criminal 
acts.  Liberty  offers  opportunity,  but  never  justification, 
for  crime. 

Political  assassination  is  not  insanity.  It  proceeds 
often  from  temporary  self-imposed  infection  and  dis 
temper  of  the  mind.  It  is  not  necessarily  limited  to 
the  reform  of  administrations  and  governments.  It 
can  as  well  be  applied  to  the  settlement  of  private 
affairs  as  to  the  overthrow  of  dynasties. 

It  is  a  phase  of  the  doctrine  of  annihilation  that 
has  been  applied  to  the  reform  of  governments  else 
where  by  large  classes  of  discontented  people;  and 
we  now  learn  with  astonishment  that  it  is  as  applicable 
to  our  own  free  and  just  government  as  to  the  des 
potisms  of  the  Old  World.  It  is  not  now  for  us  to 
speak  of  repression  or  retribution ;  but  one  of  the 
many  sovereign  remedies  for  its  evils  is  to  avoid 
convulsions,  private  and  public,  restrain  passion,  sup 
press  injustice,  practise  moderation  in  all  things,  and 

do   no   evil    that  good  may   come. 

10 


74  MEMORIAL    OF    PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

The  year  1881  is  the  complement  of  the  full  half- 
centuiy  since  the  first  open  movement  was  organized 
for  the  control  or  destruction  of  our  government. 
The  lesson  of  this  half-century,  with  all  its  trials, 
sacrifices,  and  triumphs,  is  that  it  is  wise  to  maintain 
and  defend  the  government  of  our  country  and  its 
lawfully  constituted  authorities,  whether  or  not  we 
created  them  or  like  them.  In  the  contemplation  of 
this  half-century  can  we  find  cause  to  wish  the  gov 
ernment  had  been  overthrown?  Or  can  we  now  wish 
it  crippled,  or  destroyed? 

The  lesson  of  Garfield's  life  is  an  admonition  to 
protect,  perfect,  and  defend  our  government.  His 
birth  marks  the  period  when  it  was  first  assailed  by 
enemies  domestic,  and  at  the  close  of  his  career  he 
gave  his  last  hours  of  health  and  strength  to  improve 
and  protect  it.  His  last  friend  should  give  his  last 
sigh  to  maintain  it,  not  for  his  honor,  which  is  untar 
nished,  nor  his  glory,  which  is  immaculate,  but  for  his 
country,  which  still  has  perils  to  encounter,  and  liber 
ties  to  defend  for  the  benefit  of  mankind! 


Mr.  Mayor  and  Gentlemen  of  the  City  Government:  — 

The  earthly  career  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
Republic  is  closed.  The  honors  paid  to  his  memory  by 
the  metropolis  of  Massashusetts,  in  accordance  with  its 
custom,  are  well  bestowed.  From  city  and  universe  his 
character  challenges  respect  and  honor!  On  the  shore 
of  the  great  lake,  where  he  wished  to  rest,  he  sleeps 


EULOGY  BY  NATHANIEL  P.  BANKS.          75 

well.  Death  separates  us  at  the  grave,  and  we  make 
to  him  our  last  supreme  adieu!  What  this  sad  and 
unnatural  change  portends  to  us,  or  our  country,  we 
know  not.  But  for  him,  —  our  neighbor,  compatriot, 
friend,  brother,  revered  Chief  Magistrate,  —  who  came 
with  us,  as  the  Indian  chief  said  to  Washington,  "  out  of 
this  land,"  it  brings  limitless  rest  and  peace.  He  has 
exchanged  a  few  years  of  restless  toil  for  a  deathless 
fame.  Except  to  fill  the  aching  void  of  bruised  hearts, 
who  would  recall  him?  He  could  not  be  assured  of 
recognition  or  requital,  though  he  might  confer  infinite 
blessings  upon  his  country.  "Detraction  would  not 
suffer  it."  Yet  he  would  have  gladly  served  his  country 
in  spite  of  the  ingratitude  of  his  contemporaries.  For 
him  "to  die  is  gain."  The  word  that  most  often  and 
easily  opens  the  portals  of  the  realm  of  bliss  is  martyr 
dom.  He  fought  a  good  fight;  he  finished  his  course; 
he  kept  the  faith;  he  paid  the  penalty;  he  receives 
his  reward  according  to  the  sacred  presage  and  promise 
of  God. 

"  E  venni  dal  martirio  a  questa  pace." 

These  words  the  poet  heard  in  Paradise, 
Uttered  by  one  who,  bravely  dying  here, 
In  the  true  faith,  was  living  in  that  sphere, 
Where  the  Celestial  Cross  of  sacrifice 

Spread  its  protecting  arms  athwart  the  skies ; 
And,  set  thereon,  like  jewels  crystal  clear, 
The  souls  magnanimous,  that  knew  not  fear, 
Flashed  their  effulgence  on  his  dazzled  eyes. 

Ah,  me !    how  dark  the  discipline  of  pain, 
Were  not  the  suffering  followed  by  the  sense 
Of  infinite  rest  and  infinite  release ! 

This  is  our  consolation  :  and  again 
A  great  soul  cries  to  us  in  our  suspense,  — 
"I  came  from  martyrdom  unto  this  peace!" 

—  Longfellow. 


FINAL    PROCEEDINGS. 


FINAL  PBOCEEDINGS, 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  held  on  the  24th  of 
October,  1881,  Alderman  CHARLES  H.  HERSEY  offered  the  follow 
ing  resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted  :  — 

^Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  City  Council  be 
expressed  to  NATHANIEL  P.  BAXKS,  for  the  interesting 
historical  sketch  of  the  life  and  public  services  of 
JAMES  A.  GARFIELD,  late  President  of  the  United 
States,  which  was  eloquently  presented  by  him  before 
the  City  Council  on  the  20th  instant,  and  that  a  copy 
thereof  be  solicited  for  publication. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  City  Council  be 
tendered  to  the  Directors  of  the  Tremont  Temple 
Association  for  their  courtesy  in  allowing  the  City  of 
Boston  the  free  use  of  Tremont  Temple,  on  the 
20th  instant,  for  the  observance  of  the  Memorial 
Services  in  honor  of  JAMES  A.  GAKFIELD,  the  late 
President  of  the  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  City  Council  be 
transmitted  to  the  officers  and  members  of  the  Boyls- 
ton  Club  for  their  valuable  assistance,  which  made 
so  acceptable  and  so  successful  the  musical  portion  of 
the  Memorial  Services,  on  the  20th  instant,  in  honor 


80  MEMORIAL    OF   PRESIDENT    GARFIELD. 

of    JAMES    A.    GAKFIELD,   the   late    President    of   the 
United   States. 

The  Common  Council,  on  the  27th  of  October,  concurred  in 
the  passage  of  the  resolutions,  and  they  were  approved  by  the 
Mayor  October  28th,  1881. 


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